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  • Probing superheavy dark matter through lunar radio observations of ultrahigh-energy neutrinos and the impacts of neutrino cascades

This content will become publicly available on April 1, 2026

Title: Probing superheavy dark matter through lunar radio observations of ultrahigh-energy neutrinos and the impacts of neutrino cascades
Ultrahigh-energy neutrinos ( UHE ν s) can be used as a valuable probe of superheavy dark matter above ∼ 10 9     GeV , the latter being difficult to probe with collider and direct detection experiments due to the feebly interacting nature. Searching for radio emissions originating from the interaction of UHE ν s with the lunar regolith enables us to explore energies beyond 10 12     GeV , which astrophysical accelerators cannot achieve. Taking into account the interaction of UHE ν s with the cosmic neutrino background and resulting standard neutrino cascades to calculate the neutrino flux on Earth, for the first time, we investigate sensitivities of such lunar radio observations to very heavy dark matter. We also examine the impacts of cosmogenic neutrinos that have the astrophysical origin. We show that the proposed ultralong wavelength lunar radio telescope, as well as the existing low-frequency array, can provide the most stringent constraints on decaying or annihilating superheavy dark matter with masses at ≳ 10 12     GeV . The limits are complementary to or even stronger than those from other UHE ν detectors, such as the IceCube-Gen2 radio array and the Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2308021 2108466 2108467
PAR ID:
10652355
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Publisher / Repository:
American Physical Society
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Physical Review D
Volume:
111
Issue:
8
ISSN:
2470-0010
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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