Energetic neutrinos from the Sun and Earth and dark matter substructure

TL;DR

This paper explores how energetic neutrino fluxes from the Sun and Earth can reveal the presence of dark matter substructure in the Milky Way, complementing direct detection methods.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to probe dark matter substructure through neutrino observations, linking neutrino fluxes to the Galactic dark matter distribution history.

Findings

Neutrino fluxes are sensitive to past dark matter density variations.

Enhanced neutrino signals can indicate the presence of subhalos and tidal streams.

Neutrino measurements can complement direct detection in understanding dark matter distribution.

Abstract

Dark matter halos contain a wealth of substructure in the form of subhalos and tidal streams. Enhancements in the dark matter density of these regions leads to enhanced rates in direct detection experiments, as well as enhanced dark matter capture rates in the Sun and the Earth. Direct detection experiments probe the present-day dark matter density, while energetic neutrinos probe the past history of the dark matter density along the solar system's orbit about the Galactic center. We discuss how an elevated energetic neutrino flux can be used to probe the level of substructure present at the Galactic radius of the solar system.