A strong test of the dark matter origin of a TeV electron excess using icecube neutrinos

Journal Article · 17 June 2018 · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2018/06/030 · OSTI ID:1540504

Zhao, Yue ^[1]; Fang, Ke ^[2]; Su, Meng ^[3]; Miller, M. Coleman ^[2]

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1. Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai (China); Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China); University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); DOE/OSTI
2. University of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Joint Space-Science Institute, College Park, MD (United States)
3. University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam (Hong Kong)

Due to the electroweak symmetry, high energy neutrinos and charged leptons are generically produced simultaneously in heavy dark matter decay or annihilation process. Correlating these two channels in dark matter indirect detections may provide important information on the intrinsic production mechanism. In this paper, we demonstrate this point by studying the tentative excess in the electron spectrum at 1.4 TeV reported by the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE). A non-astrophysical scenario in which dark matter particles annihilate or decay in a local clump has been invoked to explain the excess. If e± annihilation channels in the final states are mediated by left-handed leptons as a component in the SU(2)_L doublet, neutrinos with similar energies should have been simultaneously produced. Here we demonstrate that generic dark matter models can be decisively tested by the existing IceCube data. In case of a non-detection, such models would be excluded at the 5σ level by the five-year data for a point-like source and by the ten-year data for an extended source of dark matter particles with left-handed leptons. This serves as an example of the importance of correlating charged lepton and neutrino channels. It would be fruitful to conduct similar studies related to other approaches to the indirect detection of dark matter.

• Research Organization: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Shanghai Municipal Government; USDOE Office of Science (SC); University of Maryland
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0007859
• OSTI ID: 1540504
• Journal Information: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics Journal Issue: 06 Vol. 2018; ISSN 1475-7516
• Publisher: Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English