Search for Dark Matter from the Galactic Halo with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

TL;DR

This study searches for high-energy neutrinos from dark matter annihilation in the Galactic halo using IceCube data, setting limits on the annihilation cross section for WIMPs above 1 TeV.

Contribution

It presents a novel analysis that reduces halo model dependence by focusing on the outer halo region, providing new constraints on dark matter properties.

Findings

Set a limit on the dark matter self-annihilation cross section of ~10^{-22} cm^3/s for WIMPs above 1 TeV.

Performed the first search considering the outer halo to minimize Galactic Center uncertainties.

Used 276 days of IceCube 22-string data from 2007-2008.

Abstract

Self-annihilating or decaying dark matter in the Galactic halo might produce high energy neutrinos detectable with neutrino telescopes. We have conducted a search for such a signal using 276 days of data from the IceCube 22-string configuration detector acquired during 2007 and 2008. The effect of halo model choice in the extracted limit is reduced by performing a search that considers the outer halo region and not the Galactic Center. We constrain any large scale neutrino anisotropy and are able to set a limit on the dark matter self-annihilation cross section of <\sigma_{A}v> \simeq 10^{-22} cm^3/s for WIMP masses above 1 TeV, assuming a monochromatic neutrino line spectrum.