Neutrinophilic Dark Matter in the epoch of IceCube and Fermi-LAT

TL;DR

This paper proposes a model where neutrinophilic decaying Dark Matter explains the neutrino flux observed by IceCube, integrating astrophysical and dark matter components, and fits observational data within gamma-ray constraints.

Contribution

It introduces a new theoretical model of neutrinophilic decaying Dark Matter with specific symmetries and neutrino properties, addressing neutrino flux anomalies.

Findings

The model can fit IceCube neutrino data effectively.

It remains consistent with Fermi-LAT gamma-ray constraints.

The analysis supports the viability of neutrinophilic Dark Matter as a source of high-energy neutrinos.

Abstract

The recent observation of the blazar TXS 0506+056 suggests the presence of a hard power-law component in the extraterrestrial TeV-PeV neutrino flux, in agreement with the IceCube analysis on the 8-year through-going muon neutrinos from the Northern Sky. This is slightly in tension with the soft power-law neutrino flux deduced by the IceCube 6-year High Energy Starting Events data. A possible solution to such a puzzle is assuming a two-component neutrino flux. In this paper, we focus on the case where, in addition to an astrophysical power-law, the second component is a pure neutrino line produced by decaying Dark Matter particles. We investigate how to realize a neutrinophilic decaying Dark Matter in an extension of the Standard Model. The main features of the model are: i) the requirement of a new symmetry like a global $U(1)$ charge; ii) the Dirac nature of active neutrinos; iii) a low-reheating temperature of the Universe of about 1 TeV. We perform a likelihood statistical analysis to fit the IceCube data according to the present Fermi-LAT gamma-rays constraints.