Dark matter pollution in the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background. Issue 11 (1st November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bell, Nicole F.; Dolan, Matthew J.; Robles, Sandra
• Is Part Of: Journal of cosmology and astroparticle physics. Volume 2022:Issue 11(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-11-01
• Subjects: supernova neutrinos -- dark matter theory -- neutrino detectors; Cosmology -- Periodicals; Astrophysics -- Periodicals; 523.0105
• DOI: 10.1088/1475-7516/2022/11/060
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1475-7516

Abstract

Abstract: The Hyper-Kamiokande (HyperK) experiment is expected to precisely measure the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background (DSNB). This requires that the backgrounds in the relevant energy range are well understood. One possible background that has not been considered thus far is the annihilation of low-mass dark matter (DM) to neutrinos. We conduct simulations of the DSNB signal and backgrounds in HyperK, and quantify the extent to which DM annihilation products can pollute the DSNB signal. We find that the presence of DM could affect the determination of the correct values of parameters of interest for DSNB physics, such as effective neutrino temperatures and star formation rates. While this opens the possibility of simultaneously characterising the DNSB and discovering dark matter via indirect detection, we argue that it would be hard to disentangle the two contributions due to the lack of angular information available at low energies.