Sensitivity for detection of decay of dark matter particle using ICAL at INO

TL;DR

This study explores the potential of the ICAL detector at INO to detect decay signatures of dark matter particles into leptonic modes, aiming to verify previous conjectures and establish lower bounds on their lifetime.

Contribution

It presents simulation-based analysis of dark matter decay detection prospects at ICAL, including decay signatures and lifetime bounds, for masses 1-50 GeV/c^2.

Findings

Potential decay signatures identified in simulations.

Lower bounds on dark matter lifetime established.

Feasibility of detecting leptonic decay modes at ICAL.

Abstract

We report on the simulation studies on the possibility of dark matter particle (DMP) decaying into leptonic modes. While not much is known about the properties of dark matter particles except through their gravitational effect, it has been recently conjectured that the so called "anomalous Kolar Events" observed some decades ago may be due to the decay of unstable dark matter particles (M.V.N. Murthy and G.Rajasekaran, Pramana, {\bf 82}, 609 (2014)). The aim of this study is to see if this conjecture can be verified at the proposed Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector at INO. We study the possible decay to leptonic modes which may be seen in this detector with some modifications. For the purposes of simulation we assume that each channel saturates the decay width for the mass ranging from $1-50 \rm{GeV/c^2}$. The aim is not only to investigate the decay signatures, but also, more generally, to establish lower bounds on the life time of DMP even if no such decay takes place.