Constraints on metastable superheavy dark matter coupled to sterile neutrinos with the Pierre Auger Observatory

• Published in: Physical review. D 2024-04, Vol.109 (8), Article L081101
• Main Authors: Abdul Halim, A., Abreu, P., Aglietta, M., Allekotte, I., Almeida Cheminant, K., Almela, A., Aloisio, R., Alvarez-Muñiz, J., Ammerman Yebra, J., Anastasi, G. A., Anchordoqui, L., Andrada, B., Andringa, S., Apollonio, L., Aramo, C., Araújo Ferreira, P. R., Arnone, E., Arteaga Velázquez, J. C., Assis, P., Avila, G., Avocone, E., Bakalova, A., Barbato, F., Bartz Mocellin, A., Bellido, J. A., Berat, C., Bertaina, M. E., Bhatta, G., Bianciotto, M., Biermann, P. L., Binet, V., Bismark, K., Bister, T., Biteau, J., Blazek, J., Bleve, C., Blümer, J., Boháčová, M., Boncioli, D., Bonifazi, C., Bonneau Arbeletche, L., Borodai, N., Brack, J., Brichetto Orchera, P. G., Briechle, F. L., Bueno, A., Buitink, S., Buscemi, M., Büsken, M., Bwembya, A., Caballero-Mora, K. S., Cabana-Freire, S., Caccianiga, L., Campuzano, F., Caruso, R., Castellina, A., Catalani, F., Cataldi, G., Cazon, L., Cerda, M., Cermenati, A., Chinellato, J. A., Chudoba, J., Chytka, L., Clay, R. W., Cobos Cerutti, A. C., Colalillo, R., Coluccia, M. R., Conceição, R., Condorelli, A., Consolati, G., Conte, M., Convenga, F., Correia dos Santos, D., Costa, P. J., Covault, C. E., Cristinziani, M., Cruz Sanchez, C. S., Dasso, S., Daumiller, K., Dawson, B. R., de Almeida, R. M., de Jesús, J., de Jong, S. J., de Mello Neto, J. R. T., De Mitri, I., de Oliveira, J., de Oliveira Franco, D., de Palma, F., de Souza, V., de Souza de Errico, B. P., De Vito, E., Del Popolo, A., Deligny, O., Denner, N., Deval, L., di Matteo, A., Dobre, M., Dobrigkeit, C., D’Olivo, J. C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
• ISSN: 2470-0010; 2470-0029
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.109.L081101

Dark matter particles could be superheavy, provided their lifetime is much longer than the age of the Universe. Using the sensitivity of the Pierre Auger Observatory to ultrahigh energy neutrinos and photons, we constrain a specific extension of the Standard Model of particle physics that meets the lifetime requirement for a superheavy particle by coupling it to a sector of ultralight sterile neutrinos. Our results show that, for a typical dark coupling constant of 0.1, the mixing angle θ m between active and sterile neutrinos must satisfy, roughly, θ m ≲ 1.5 × 10 − 6 ( M X / 10 9 GeV ) − 2 for a mass M X of the dark-matter particle between 10 8 GeV and 10 11 GeV .