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Probing the properties of superheavy dark matter annihilating or decaying into neutrinos with ultra-high energy neutrino experiments
Conference proceeding   Open access

Probing the properties of superheavy dark matter annihilating or decaying into neutrinos with ultra-high energy neutrino experiments

Claire Guépin, Roberto Aloisio, Luis Anchordoqui, Austin Cummings, John Krizmanic, Angela Olinto, Mary Hall Reno and Tonia Venters
Proceedings of the 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference
37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021 (Berlin, Germany, 07/12/2021–07/23/2021)
12/09/2021
DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2112.04801
url
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2112.04801View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

The evidence for dark matter particles, \(\chi\), is compelling based on Galactic to cosmological scale observations. Thus far, the promising weakly interacting massive particle scenario have eluded detection, motivating alternative models of dark matter. We consider scenarios involving superheavy dark matter (SHDM) that potentially can decay or annihilate to neutrinos and antineutrinos. In the mass range \(m_\chi=10^7-10^{15}\,{\rm GeV}\), we evaluate the sensitivities of future observatories POEMMA and GRAND for indirect dark matter detection via the measurement of neutrino-induced extensive air showers (EAS), compute the Auger and ANITA limits using their last up-to-date sensitivities, and compare them with IceCube limits. We also show that the uncertainties related to the dark matter distribution in the Galactic halo have a large impact on the neutrino flux. We show that a ground-based radio detector such as GRAND can achieve high sensitivities due to its large effective area and high duty cycle. Space-based Cherenkov detectors such as POEMMA that measure the EAS optical Cherenkov signal have the advantage of full-sky coverage and rapid slewing, enabling an optimized SHDM observation strategy focusing on the Galactic Center. We show that increasing the field of view of the Cherenkov detectors can significantly enhance the sensitivity. Moreover, POEMMA's fluorescence observation mode that measures EAS above \(20\,\)EeV will achieve state-of-the-art sensitivity to SHDM properties at the highest mass scales.
Fluorescence Antineutrinos Augers Cerenkov counters Cosmic ray showers Dark matter Detectors Field of view Galactic halos High energy astronomy Neutrinos Observatories Optical communication Sensitivity analysis Sensitivity enhancement Slewing Weakly interacting massive particles

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