Rupak Mahapatra

Rupak Mahapatra is Mitchell-Heep Chair in Experimental High Energy Physics at Texas A&M University, pioneering low-threshold detectors for dark matter and neutrino research. As PI of the MINER reactor experiment and TESSERACT dark matter project, he develops cryogenic semiconductor and scintillator technologies to probe sub-eV energy scales. His DOE Early Career Award (2010) supports innovations in phonon-mediated detection for light dark matter searches.

Current work focuses on sapphire detectors for axion-like particles, quantum diamond magnetometry for navigation, and background discrimination in germanium calorimeters. Recent publications establish world-leading limits on light dark matter interactions and characterize low-energy nuclear recoils. He directs detector fabrication facilities developing next-generation sensors for fundamental physics.