Muon Fluxes From Dark Matter Annihilation

TL;DR

This paper calculates muon fluxes resulting from dark matter annihilation in celestial bodies and cosmic halos, highlighting differences from atmospheric neutrino backgrounds and emphasizing the importance of muon propagation modeling.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive, model-independent analysis of muon fluxes from dark matter annihilation, including propagation effects and flavor considerations, improving upon previous estimates.

Findings

Muon flux shapes differ significantly from atmospheric neutrino backgrounds.

Proper treatment of muon propagation and energy loss is crucial for accurate flux predictions.

Results highlight the detectability of dark matter signals via muon observations.

Abstract

We calculate the muon flux from annihilation of the dark matter in the core of the Sun, in the core of the Earth and from cosmic diffuse neutrinos produced in dark matter annihilation in the halos. We consider model-independent direct neutrino production and secondary neutrino production from the decay of taus produced in the annihilation of dark matter. We illustrate how muon energy distribution from dark matter annihilation has a very different shape than muon flux from atmospheric neutrinos. We consider both the upward muon flux, when muons are created in the rock below the detector, and the contained flux when muons are created in the (ice) detector. We contrast our results to the ones previously obtained in the literature, illustrating the importance of properly treating muon propagation and energy loss. We comment on neutrino flavor dependence and their detection.