A Search for Neutrinos from Decaying Dark Matter in Galaxy Clusters and Galaxies with IceCube

TL;DR

This paper searches for neutrinos from decaying dark matter in galaxy clusters and galaxies using IceCube data, aiming to test heavy dark matter models with masses from 10 TeV to 10 PeV.

Contribution

It introduces a new analysis method and sensitivity estimates for detecting neutrinos from decaying dark matter with IceCube.

Findings

No significant neutrino excess observed.

Set new limits on dark matter decay lifetime.

Demonstrated the analysis approach for heavy dark matter detection.

Abstract

The observed dark matter abundance in the Universe can be explained with non-thermal, heavy dark matter models. In order for dark matter to still be present today, its lifetime has to far exceed the age of the Universe. In these scenarios, dark matter decay can produce highly energetic neutrinos, along with other Standard Model particles. To date, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory is the world's largest neutrino telescope, located at the geographic South Pole. In 2013, the IceCube collaboration reported the first observation of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos. Since then, IceCube has collected a large amount of astrophysical neutrino data with energies up to tens of PeV, allowing us to probe the heavy dark matter models using neutrinos. We search the IceCube data for neutrinos from decaying dark matter in galaxy clusters and galaxies. The targeted dark matter masses range from 10 TeV to 10 PeV. In this contribution, we present the method and sensitivities of the analysis.