Hunting for super-heavy dark matter with the highest-energy cosmic rays

Abstract

In 15 years of data taking the Pierre Auger Observatory has observed no events beyond $10^{11.3}$ GeV. This null result translates into an upper bound on the flux of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays implying $J(>10^{11.3}$ GeV) $<3.6\times 10^{-5}$ km${}^{-2}$ sr${}^{-1}$ yr${}^{-1}$, at the 90\%C.L. We interpret this bound as a constraint on extreme-energy photons originating in the decay super-heavy dark matter (SHDM) particles clustered in the Galactic halo. Armed with this constraint we derive the strongest lower limit on the lifetime of hadronically decaying SHDM particles with masses in the range, $10^{14}<M_X/$ GeV $<10^{15}$. We also explore the capability of future NASA's POEMMA mission to search for SHDM signals.

Matching version accepted for publication in PRD

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• A search for photons with energies above $2\times 10^{17}$ eV using hybrid data from the low-energy extensions of the Pierre Auger Observatory
• Testing Super-Heavy Dark Matter from Primordial Black Holes with Gravitational Waves
• Hunting super-heavy dark matter with ultra-high energy photons
• PBH-infused seesaw origin of matter and unique gravitational waves
• GCOS -- The Global Cosmic Ray Observatory
• Limits to gauge coupling in the dark sector set by the non-observation of instanton-induced decay of Super-Heavy Dark Matter in the Pierre Auger Observatory data
• Diffuse flux of ultra-high energy photons from cosmic-ray interactions in the disk of the Galaxy and implications for the search for decaying super-heavy dark matter
• The POEMMA (Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics) Observatory
• Gravitational Atoms
• A general study of decaying scalar dark matter: existing limits and projected radio signals at the SKA
• Search for heavy dark matter from dwarf spheroidal galaxies: leveraging cascades and subhalo models
• Constraints on metastable superheavy dark matter coupled to sterile neutrinos with the Pierre Auger Observatory
• A Realization of Slow Roll Inflation and the MSSM in Supergravity Theories with New Fayet-Iliopoulos Terms
• Bounds from multi-messenger astronomy on the Super Heavy Dark Matter
• Indirect dark matter searches at ultrahigh energy neutrino detectors
• Constraints on superheavy dark matter decaying into $h\nu$, $Z\nu$ and $W\ell$ -- Benchmark example within an extended seesaw framework
• MSSM WIMPs-nucleon cross section for E${}_{\chi }<$ 500 GeV
• Snowmass 2021 Letter of Interest: The Probe Of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA)