Sohyoun Yun‑Cárcamo
Postdoctoral researcher in multi-messenger astrophysics, Drexel University
I combine TeV gamma rays from HAWC with neutrinos from IceCube to find the Galaxy's PeV cosmic-ray accelerators, with a focus on the Galactic Center.
Research
Gamma rays above 100 TeV point to particles accelerated to PeV energies, but they cannot tell protons from electrons on their own. Neutrinos can: only hadronic interactions make them. My work builds gamma-ray models with HAWC and uses them to predict, and search for, the matching neutrino signal in IceCube.
Galactic Center gamma rays above 100 TeV
A power law with no cutoff past 100 TeV, made possible by HAWC's improved high-energy reconstruction.
Joint HAWC–IceCube Galactic Center analysis
A point-source plus diffuse-emission model beyond 100 TeV, turned into a neutrino template and tested with 12 years of IceCube tracks.
HAWC dark matter search in the Galactic Center
Lead analyst on HAWC's first dark matter search toward the Galactic Center.
Detectors & software
The results above depend on low-level work: knowing exactly how a detector responds and building the tools to analyze its data.
Detector performance
As a first-year graduate student I built the validation framework comparing HAWC's Pass 4 and Pass 5 reconstructions and found a 50% loss of events above 100 TeV. The fix extended HAWC's reach to the energies where PeVatrons show up.
The Astrophysical Journal 972, 144 (2024) · lead analyst and corresponding author
WONDERLAND
Co-lead of open-source software that lets neutrino telescope data be analyzed inside Gammapy, so gamma-ray and neutrino results, and different neutrino telescopes, can be compared directly.
Paper in preparation · co-lead
Selected publications
- 2026ApJLResolving the Galactic Center Region's Gamma-Ray Emission and Searching for Its Neutrino Counterpart with HAWC and IceCubeLead analyst · CorrespondingHAWC and IceCube Collaborations · accepted, ApJ Letters
- 2026PRLSearch for signatures of dark matter annihilation in the Galactic Center with HAWCLead analyst · CorrespondingHAWC Collaboration · Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 191001
- 2024ApJLObservation of the Galactic Center PeVatron Beyond 100 TeV with HAWCLead analyst · CorrespondingHAWC Collaboration · ApJL 973, L34
- 2024ApJPerformance of the HAWC Observatory and TeV Gamma-Ray Measurements of the Crab Nebula with Improved Extensive Air Shower Reconstruction AlgorithmsLead analyst · CorrespondingHAWC Collaboration · ApJ 972, 144
- 2024NatureUltra-High-Energy Gamma-Ray Bubble around Microquasar V4641 SgrHAWC Collaboration · Nature 634, 557
- 2024ApJSearch for Joint Multimessenger Signals from Potential Galactic Cosmic-Ray Accelerators with HAWC and IceCubeHAWC and IceCube Collaborations · ApJ 976, 8
HAWC and IceCube list authors alphabetically, so the papers marked here are those where I was lead analyst and corresponding author. Full list on NASA ADS and Google Scholar.
CV highlights
Positions & education
- 2025–now
- Postdoctoral Researcher, Drexel University
HAWC, IceCube and P-ONE - 2021–2025
- PhD in Physics, University of Maryland
Thesis: Observation of Ultra-High-Energy Gamma Rays and Search for Dark Matter Signatures in the Galactic Center with the HAWC Observatory ↗ - 2017–2020
- B.S. in Physics, Universidad de Chile
Highest GPA in the physics cohort
Leadership & service
Coordinator, Galactic Sources working group
Nominated and elected, October 2026. I chair the group's meetings, review analysis technical notes and decide when analyses are ready for a manuscript.
Internal paper reviewer and expert monthly shifter, keeping data taking stable and coordinating with on-site staff in Mexico.
Internal reviewer and shifter
Analysis, paper and code reviewer, including the working-group review of a Galactic Center analysis. Weekly shifter for IceCube's online monitoring.
Referee
Nature Astronomy
Physical Review D
Selected talks
- 01/2027
- IceCube overview (invited), High Energy, Particles and Nuclear Physics in the LHC Era, Valparaíso
- 05/2026
- Plenary, IceCube Collaboration Meeting, Bochum
- 04/2026
- HAWC overview (invited), APS Global Physics Summit, Denver
- 02/2025
- High Energy Seminar, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (video)
Mentoring & teaching
- Graduate students at Michigan Tech, Sungkyunkwan University and Drexel
- IceCube software workshop, Sungkyunkwan University (2026)
- Course instructor, Optics, Universidad de Chile postgraduate diploma (2026)
- Co-host, weekly particle astrophysics undergraduate group, Drexel
Awards
- APS Division of Astrophysics Travel Award (2026)
- 2nd prize poster, CDY Future of Gamma-Ray Astronomy School, MPIK (2024)
- Highest GPA in the physics cohort, Universidad de Chile (2020)
Outreach
- Spanish-language video on the 2026 Nobel Prize and IceCube, Universidad de Chile
- Science fair for nearly 700 high-school students, Philadelphia
- Voices of IceCube interview; APS Science in Community, Denver
In the news
- 11/2026Universidad de Chile · SpanishFrom the University of Chile to the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics team
- 10/2026Las Últimas Noticias · SpanishThe scientist who grew up in Chiloé and now works alongside the 2026 Nobel laureate in Physics
- 10/2024Los Alamos National LaboratoryHighest-energy ever gamma rays observed from Milky Way center
- 10/2024Phys.orgRecord gamma rays detected at Milky Way's core
- 09/2024CERN CourierA PeVatron at the Galactic Centre
- 09/2024University of Maryland PhysicsHAWC sheds light on the origin of Galactic cosmic rays
Contact
Physics Department, Drexel University
English professional
한국어 basic