Search for dark matter from the center of the Earth with 8 years of IceCube data

TL;DR

This paper reports on a search for dark matter annihilation signals in neutrinos from Earth's center using 8 years of IceCube data, setting competitive limits on WIMP properties across a wide mass range.

Contribution

First comprehensive search for neutrino signals from Earth’s core due to WIMP annihilation using 8 years of IceCube data, improving constraints on dark matter models.

Findings

Set new limits on WIMP annihilation cross-sections.

Achieved world-leading sensitivity in certain mass ranges.

Compared results with previous experiments, showing improved constraints.

Abstract

The nature of Dark Matter (DM) remains one of the most important unresolved questions of fundamental physics. Many models, including Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), assume DM to be a particle and predict a weak coupling with Standard Model matter. If DM particles can scatter off nuclei in the vicinity of a massive object such as a star or a planet, they may lose kinetic energy and become gravitationally trapped in the center of such objects, including Earth. As DM accumulates in the center of the Earth, self-annihilation of WIMPs into Standard Model particles can result in an excess of neutrinos which are detectable at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, situated at the geographic South Pole. A search for excess neutrinos from these annihilations has been performed using 8 years of IceCube data, and results have been interpreted in the context of a number of WIMP annihilation channels ($\chi\chi\rightarrow\tau^+\tau^-$/$W^+W^-$/$b\bar{b}$) and masses ranging from 10 GeV to 10 TeV. We present the latest results from this analysis and compare the outcome with previous analyses by IceCube and other experiments, showing competitive results, which are even world-leading in some parts of the parameter space.