paper

Cosmological Origin of the KM3-230213A event and associated Gravitational Waves

arXiv:2503.22465 · doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2025/10/079

Abstract

We propose a novel cosmological scenario to explain the exceptional KM3-230213A neutrino event reported at an energy scale of ~PeV by the KM3NeT collaboration, along with its associated gravitational wave (GW) signatures. In our framework, ultra high energy neutrinos originate from the decay of a super-heavy sterile neutrino produced via the Hawking evaporation of primordial black holes (PBHs) in the early Universe. Employing an ultraviolet complete type-I seesaw model, we demonstrate that while two sterile neutrinos are responsible for light neutrino masses as required by oscillation data, one sterile neutrino can have an exceedingly feeble coupling, allowing its lifetime to be tuned so that its decay yields a neutrino flux consistent with the observed event. Furthermore, our scenario predicts two distinct GW signatures: one arising from gravitons emitted during PBH evaporation and another from the Bremsstrahlung process during the decay of the sterile neutrino. These complementary signals provide a multi-messenger probe of the underlying physics. Our results thus offer a compelling explanation for the KM3-230213A event and open new avenues for investigating the interplay between high-energy neutrino astronomy and gravitational wave cosmology.

arXiv comment31 pages, 9 captioned figures; matches the version published in JCAP

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