Eur. Phys. J. C (2025) 85: 697
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-025-14313-8

Regular Article - Computing, Software and Data Science

Neutrino interaction vertex reconstruction in DUNE with Pandora deep learning

¹ University of Albany, SUNY, 12222, Albany, NY, USA
² Institute of Nuclear Physics at Almaty, 050032, Almaty, Kazakhstan
³ University of Amsterdam, 1098 XG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
⁴ Antalya Bilim University, 07190, Döşemealtı, Antalya, Turkey
⁵ University of Antananarivo, 101, Antananarivo, Madagascar
⁶ University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
⁷ Universidad Antonio Nariño, Bogotá, Colombia
⁸ Argonne National Laboratory, 60439, Argonne, IL, USA
⁹ University of Arizona, 85721, Tucson, AZ, USA
¹⁰ Universidad Nacional de Asunción, San Lorenzo, Paraguay
¹¹ University of Athens, 157 84, Zografou, Greece
¹² Universidad del Atlántico, Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia
¹³ Augustana University, 57197, Sioux Falls, SD, USA
¹⁴ University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
¹⁵ Beykent University, Istanbul, Turkey
¹⁶ University of Birmingham, B15 2TT, Birmingham, UK
¹⁷ Università di Bologna, 40127, Bologna, Italy
¹⁸ Boston University, 02215, Boston, MA, USA
¹⁹ University of Bristol, BS8 1TL, Bristol, UK
²⁰ Brookhaven National Laboratory, 11973, Upton, NY, USA
²¹ University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
²² University of California Berkeley, 94720, Berkeley, CA, USA
²³ University of California Davis, 95616, Davis, CA, USA
²⁴ University of California Irvine, 92697, Irvine, CA, USA
²⁵ University of California Los Angeles, 90095, Los Angeles, CA, USA
²⁶ University of California Riverside, 92521, Riverside, CA, USA
²⁷ University of California Santa Barbara, 93106, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
²⁸ California Institute of Technology, 91125, Pasadena, CA, USA
²⁹ University of Cambridge, CB3 0HE, Cambridge, UK
³⁰ Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil
³¹ Università di Catania, 2, 95131, Catania, Italy
³² Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile
³³ Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
³⁴ IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
³⁵ CERN, The European Organization for Nuclear Research, 1211, Meyrin, Switzerland
³⁶ Institute of Particle and Nuclear Physics of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the Charles University, 180 00, Prague 8, Czech Republic
³⁷ University of Chicago, 60637, Chicago, IL, USA
³⁸ Chung-Ang University, 06974, Seoul, South Korea
³⁹ CIEMAT, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, 28040, Madrid, Spain
⁴⁰ University of Cincinnati, 45221, Cincinnati, OH, USA
⁴¹ Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (Cinvestav), Mexico City, Mexico
⁴² Universidad de Colima, Colima, Mexico
⁴³ University of Colorado Boulder, 80309, Boulder, CO, USA
⁴⁴ Colorado State University, 80523, Fort Collins, CO, USA
⁴⁵ Columbia University, 10027, New York, NY, USA
⁴⁶ Comisión Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Aeroespacial, Lima, Peru
⁴⁷ Centro de Tecnologia da Informacao Renato Archer, Amarais, CEP 13069-901, Campinas, SP, Brazil
⁴⁸ Central University of South Bihar, 824236, Gaya, India
⁴⁹ Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, 182 00, Prague 8, Czech Republic
⁵⁰ Czech Technical University, 115 19, Prague 1, Czech Republic
⁵¹ Laboratoire d’Annecy de Physique des Particules, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LAPP-IN2P3, 74000, Annecy, France
⁵² Daresbury Laboratory, WA4 4AD, Cheshire, UK
⁵³ Sioux Center, Dordt University, 51250, Sioux Center, IA, USA
⁵⁴ Drexel University, 19104, Philadelphia, PA, USA
⁵⁵ Duke University, 27708, Durham, NC, USA
⁵⁶ Durham University, DH1 3LE, Durham, UK
⁵⁷ University of Edinburgh, EH8 9YL, Edinburgh, UK
⁵⁸ Universidad EIA, Envigado, Antioquia, Colombia
⁵⁹ Eötvös Loránd University, 1053, Budapest, Hungary
⁶⁰ Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
⁶¹ Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa-FCUL, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal
⁶² Universidade Federal de Alfenas, 37715-400, Poços de Caldas, MG, Brazil
⁶³ Universidade Federal de Goias, 74690-900, Goiânia, GO, Brazil
⁶⁴ Universidade Federal do ABC, 09210-580, Santo André, SP, Brazil
⁶⁵ Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-901, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
⁶⁶ Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, 60510, Batavia, IL, USA
⁶⁷ University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
⁶⁸ University of Florida, 32611-8440, Gainesville, FL, USA
⁶⁹ Florida State University, 32306, Tallahassee, FL, USA
⁷⁰ Fluminense Federal University, 9 Icaraí, 24220-900, Niterói, RJ, Brazil
⁷¹ Università degli Studi di Genova, Genoa, Italy
⁷² Georgian Technical University, Tbilisi, Georgia
⁷³ University of Granada and CAFPE, 18002, Granada, Spain
⁷⁴ Gran Sasso Science Institute, L’Aquila, Italy
⁷⁵ Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, L’Aquila, AQ, Italy
⁷⁶ University Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, LPSC-IN2P3, 38000, Grenoble, France
⁷⁷ Universidad de Guanajuato, C.P. 37000, Guanajuato, Mexico
⁷⁸ Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Jhunsi, 211 019, Allahabad, India
⁷⁹ University of Hawaii, 96822, Honolulu, HI, USA
⁸⁰ Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
⁸¹ University of Houston, 77204, Houston, TX, USA
⁸² University of Hyderabad, Gachibowli, 500 046, Hyderabad, India
⁸³ Idaho State University, 83209, Pocatello, ID, USA
⁸⁴ Instituto de Física Corpuscular, CSIC and Universitat de València, 46980, Paterna, Valencia, Spain
⁸⁵ Instituto Galego de Física de Altas Enerxías, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
⁸⁶ Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
⁸⁷ Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 208016, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
⁸⁸ Illinois Institute of Technology, 60616, Chicago, IL, USA
⁸⁹ Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, SW7 2BZ, London, UK
⁹⁰ Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, 781 039, Guwahati, India
⁹¹ Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, 502285, Hyderabad, India
⁹² Indiana University, 47405, Bloomington, IN, USA
⁹³ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Sezione di Bologna, 40127, Bologna, BO, Italy
⁹⁴ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Sezione di Catania, 95123, Catania, Italy
⁹⁵ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Sezione di Ferrara, 44122, Ferrara, Italy
⁹⁶ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Frascati, Rome, Italy
⁹⁷ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Sezione di Genova, 16146, Genoa, GE, Italy
⁹⁸ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Sezione di Lecce, 73100, Lecce, Italy
⁹⁹ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Bicocca, 3, 20126, Milan, Italy
¹⁰⁰ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Sezione di Milano, 20133, Milan, Italy
¹⁰¹ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Sezione di Napoli, 80126, Naples, Italy
¹⁰² Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Sezione di Padova, 35131, Padua, Italy
¹⁰³ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Sezione di Pavia, 27100, Pavia, Italy
¹⁰⁴ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Laboratori Nazionali di Pisa, Pisa, PI, Italy
¹⁰⁵ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Sezione di Roma, 00185, Rome, RM, Italy
¹⁰⁶ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Roma Tor Vergata, 00133, Rome, RM, Italy
¹⁰⁷ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, 95123, Catania, Italy
¹⁰⁸ Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Lima 25, Peru
¹⁰⁹ University of Insubria, Via Ravasi, 2, 21100, Varese, VA, Italy
¹¹⁰ University of Iowa, 52242, Iowa City, IA, USA
¹¹¹ Iowa State University, 50011, Ames, IA, USA
¹¹² Institut de Physique des 2 Infinis de Lyon, 69622, Villeurbanne, France
¹¹³ Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, Tehran, Iran
¹¹⁴ Instituto Superior Técnico-IST, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal
¹¹⁵ Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, São José dos Campos, Brazil
¹¹⁶ Iwate University, 020-8551, Morioka, Iwate, Japan
¹¹⁷ Jackson State University, 39217, Jackson, MS, USA
¹¹⁸ Jawaharlal Nehru University, 110067, New Delhi, India
¹¹⁹ Jeonbuk National University, 54896, Jeonrabuk-do, South Korea
¹²⁰ Jyväskylä University, 40014, Jyvaskyla, Finland
¹²¹ Kansas State University, 66506, Manhattan, KS, USA
¹²² Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, 277-8583, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan
¹²³ High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), 305-0801, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
¹²⁴ Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, 34141, Daejeon, South Korea
¹²⁵ Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, 01601, Kyiv, Ukraine
¹²⁶ Lancaster University, LA1 4YB, Lancaster, UK
¹²⁷ Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 94720, Berkeley, CA, USA
¹²⁸ Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas, 1649-003 Lisbon and, 3004-516, Coimbra, Portugal
¹²⁹ University of Liverpool, L69 7ZE, Liverpool, UK
¹³⁰ Los Alamos National Laboratory, 87545, Los Alamos, NM, USA
¹³¹ Louisiana State University, 70803, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
¹³² Laboratoire de Physique des Deux Infinis Bordeaux-IN2P3, 33175, Gradignan, Bordeaux, France
¹³³ University of Lucknow, 226007, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
¹³⁴ Madrid Autonoma University and IFT UAM/CSIC, 28049, Madrid, Spain
¹³⁵ Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55122, Mainz, Germany
¹³⁶ University of Manchester, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK
¹³⁷ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA
¹³⁸ University of Medellín, 050026, Medellín, Colombia
¹³⁹ University of Michigan, 48109, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
¹⁴⁰ Michigan State University, 48824, East Lansing, MI, USA
¹⁴¹ Università di Milano Bicocca, 20126, Milan, Italy
¹⁴² Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133, Milan, Italy
¹⁴³ University of Minnesota Duluth, 55812, Duluth, MN, USA
¹⁴⁴ University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 55455, Minneapolis, MN, USA
¹⁴⁵ University of Mississippi, 38677, University, MS, USA
¹⁴⁶ Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80138, Naples, NA, Italy
¹⁴⁷ Nikhef National Institute of Subatomic Physics, 1098 XG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
¹⁴⁸ National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), 752050, Jatani, Odisha, India
¹⁴⁹ University of North Dakota, 58202-8357, Grand Forks, ND, USA
¹⁵⁰ Northern Illinois University, 60115, DeKalb, IL, USA
¹⁵¹ Northwestern University, 60208, Evanston, IL, USA
¹⁵² University of Notre Dame, 46556, Notre Dame, IN, USA
¹⁵³ University of Novi Sad, 21102, Novi Sad, Serbia
¹⁵⁴ Ohio State University, 43210, Columbus, OH, USA
¹⁵⁵ Oregon State University, 97331, Corvallis, OR, USA
¹⁵⁶ University of Oxford, OX1 3RH, Oxford, UK
¹⁵⁷ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 99352, Richland, WA, USA
¹⁵⁸ Universtà degli Studi di Padova, 35131, Padua, Italy
¹⁵⁹ Panjab University, 160014, Chandigarh, India
¹⁶⁰ Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405, Orsay, France
¹⁶¹ Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Astroparticule et Cosmologie, Paris, France
¹⁶² University of Parma, 43121, Parma, PR, Italy
¹⁶³ Università degli Studi di Pavia, 27100, Pavia, PV, Italy
¹⁶⁴ University of Pennsylvania, 19104, Philadelphia, PA, USA
¹⁶⁵ Pennsylvania State University, 16802, University Park, PA, USA
¹⁶⁶ Physical Research Laboratory, 380 009, Ahmedabad, India
¹⁶⁷ Università di Pisa, 56127, Pisa, Italy
¹⁶⁸ University of Pittsburgh, 15260, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
¹⁶⁹ Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru
¹⁷⁰ University of Puerto Rico, 00681, Mayagüez, PR, USA
¹⁷¹ Punjab Agricultural University, 141004, Ludhiana, India
¹⁷² Queen Mary University of London, E1 4NS, London, UK
¹⁷³ Radboud University, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
¹⁷⁴ Rice University, 77005, Houston, TX, USA
¹⁷⁵ University of Rochester, 14627, Rochester, NY, USA
¹⁷⁶ Royal Holloway College London, TW20 0EX, London, UK
¹⁷⁷ Rutgers University, 08854, Piscataway, NJ, USA
¹⁷⁸ STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, OX11 0QX, Didcot, UK
¹⁷⁹ Università del Salento, 73100, Lecce, Italy
¹⁸⁰ Universidad del Magdalena, Santa Marta, Colombia
¹⁸¹ Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, RM, Italy
¹⁸² Universidad Sergio Arboleda, 11022, Bogotá, Colombia
¹⁸³ University of Sheffield, S3 7RH, Sheffield, UK
¹⁸⁴ SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 94025, Menlo Park, CA, USA
¹⁸⁵ University of South Carolina, 29208, Columbia, SC, USA
¹⁸⁶ South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, 57701, Rapid City, SD, USA
¹⁸⁷ South Dakota State University, 57007, Brookings, SD, USA
¹⁸⁸ Stony Brook University, SUNY, 11794, Stony Brook, NY, USA
¹⁸⁹ Sanford Underground Research Facility, 57754, Lead, SD, USA
¹⁹⁰ University of Sussex, BN1 9RH, Brighton, UK
¹⁹¹ Syracuse University, 13244, Syracuse, NY, USA
¹⁹² Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
¹⁹³ Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
¹⁹⁴ Texas A&M University, 77840, College Station, TX, USA
¹⁹⁵ Texas A& M University-Corpus Christi, 78412, Corpus Christi, TX, USA
¹⁹⁶ University of Texas at Arlington, 76019, Arlington, TX, USA
¹⁹⁷ University of Texas at Austin, 78712, Austin, TX, USA
¹⁹⁸ University of Toronto, M5S 1A1, Toronto, ON, Canada
¹⁹⁹ Tufts University, 02155, Medford, MA, USA
²⁰⁰ Universidade Federal de São Paulo, 09913-030, São Paulo, Brazil
²⁰¹ Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, 689-798, Ulsan, South Korea
²⁰² University College London, WC1E 6BT, London, UK
²⁰³ University of Kansas, 66045, Lawrence, KS, USA
²⁰⁴ Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru
²⁰⁵ Valley City State University, 58072, Valley City, ND, USA
²⁰⁶ University of Vigo, 36310, Vigo, Spain
²⁰⁷ Virginia Tech, 24060, Blacksburg, VA, USA
²⁰⁸ University of Warsaw, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
²⁰⁹ University of Warwick, CV4 7AL, Coventry, UK
²¹⁰ Wellesley College, 02481, Wellesley, MA, USA
²¹¹ Wichita State University, 67260, Wichita, KS, USA
²¹² William and Mary, 23187, Williamsburg, VA, USA
²¹³ University of Wisconsin Madison, 53706, Madison, WI, USA
²¹⁴ Yale University, 06520, New Haven, CT, USA
²¹⁵ Yerevan Institute for Theoretical Physics and Modeling, 0036, Yerevan, Armenia
²¹⁶ York University, M3J 1P3, Toronto, Canada
²¹⁷ University of Warwick, CV4 7AL, Coventry, UK

^a andrew.chappell@warwick.ac.uk

Received: 11 February 2025
Accepted: 15 May 2025
Published online: 25 June 2025

Abstract

The Pandora Software Development Kit and algorithm libraries perform reconstruction of neutrino interactions in liquid argon time projection chamber detectors. Pandora is the primary event reconstruction software used at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, which will operate four large-scale liquid argon time projection chambers at the far detector site in South Dakota, producing high-resolution images of charged particles emerging from neutrino interactions. While these high-resolution images provide excellent opportunities for physics, the complex topologies require sophisticated pattern recognition capabilities to interpret signals from the detectors as physically meaningful objects that form the inputs to physics analyses. A critical component is the identification of the neutrino interaction vertex. Subsequent reconstruction algorithms use this location to identify the individual primary particles and ensure they each result in a separate reconstructed particle. A new vertex-finding procedure described in this article integrates a U-ResNet neural network performing hit-level classification into the multi-algorithm approach used by Pandora to identify the neutrino interaction vertex. The machine learning solution is seamlessly integrated into a chain of pattern-recognition algorithms. The technique substantially outperforms the previous BDT-based solution, with a more than 20% increase in the efficiency of sub-1 cm vertex reconstruction across all neutrino flavours.