First search for dark matter annihilations in the Earth with the IceCube Detector

TL;DR

This study reports the first search for dark matter annihilations in Earth's core using IceCube, setting new upper limits on WIMP interactions with nuclei based on neutrino detection data.

Contribution

It presents the first IceCube analysis targeting dark matter annihilation in Earth, providing the most restrictive limits for certain WIMP masses to date.

Findings

No excess neutrino flux detected beyond background.

Set the most stringent limits on WIMP-nucleon cross section for 50 GeV WIMPs.

Improved limits compared to previous IceCube and AMANDA analyses.

Abstract

We present the results of the first IceCube search for dark matter annihilation in the center of the Earth. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), candidates for dark matter, can scatter off nuclei inside the Earth and fall below its escape velocity. Over time the captured WIMPs will be accumulated and may eventually self-annihilate. Among the annihilation products only neutrinos can escape from the center of the Earth. Large-scale neutrino telescopes, such as the cubic kilometer IceCube Neutrino Observatory located at the South Pole, can be used to search for such neutrino fluxes. Data from 327 days of detector livetime during 2011/ 2012 were analyzed. No excess beyond the expected background from atmospheric neutrinos was detected. The derived upper limits on the annihilation rate of WIMPs in the Earth and the resulting muon flux are an order of magnitude stronger than the limits of the last analysis performed with data from IceCube's predecessor AMANDA. The limits can be translated in terms of a spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross section. For a WIMP mass of 50 GeV this analysis results in the most restrictive limits achieved with IceCube data.