Probing the coupling of heavy dark matter to nucleons by detecting neutrino signature from the Earth core

摘要

We argue that the detection of neutrino signature from the Earth core is anideal approach for probing the coupling of heavy dark matter ($m_{\chi}>10^{4}$GeV) to nucleons. We first note that direct searches for dark matter (DM) insuch a mass range do not provide stringent constraints. Furthermore theenergies of neutrinos arising from DM annihilations inside the Sun cannotexceed a few TeV at the Sun surface due to the attenuation effect. Thereforethe sensitivity to the heavy DM coupling is lost. Finally, the detection ofneutrino signature from galactic halo can only probe DM annihilation crosssections. After presenting the rationale of our studies, we discuss the eventrates in IceCube and KM3NeT arising from the neutrino flux produced byannihilations of Earth-captured DM heavier than $10^{4}$ GeV. The IceCube andKM3NeT sensitivities to spin independent DM-proton scattering cross section$\sigma_{\chi p}$ and isospin violation effect in this mass range arepresented. The implications of our results are also discussed.