Super heavy dark matter origin of the PeV neutrino event: KM3-230213A

Abstract

The recent observation of the ultrahigh-energy neutrino event KM3-230213A by the KM3NeT experiment offers a compelling avenue to explore physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). In this paper, we explore a simplest possibility that this event originates from the decay of a super-heavy dark matter (SHDM). We consider a minimal scenario where the SHDM decays to neutrino and SM Higgs. We derive constraints on the DM lifetime as a function of DM mass, ensuring consistency with IceCube, Auger upper limits, and the observed KM3-230213A event, along with the gamma-ray constraints. We find that KM3-230213A gives stringent constraint on the DM mass ranging from $1.5\times 10^8$ GeV to $5.2\times 10^9$ GeV with lifetime in the range: $1.42\times 10^{30}$ s to $5.4\times 10^{29}$ s. Remarkably, in our SHDM scenario, the apparent tension between the KM3NeT observation and the nonobservation of this event by IceCube and Auger can be reduced to below $1.2\sigma$. Our results are applicable to any neutrinophilic SHDM models while evading gamma-ray constraints.

Comments: v2: 5+3 pages, 3+1 captioned figures, 1 table, version accepted for publication as a Letter in Phys. Rev. D; v3: updated to match published version in Phys. Rev. D