Multi-messenger Constraints on a Primordial Black Hole Origin of the KM3-230213A Event

Abstract

Black holes are expected to end their lifetime in a burst of Hawking radiation, emitting all Standard Model particles at ultra-high energies. The evaporation of a nearby primordial black hole (PBH) has been proposed as an explanation for the high-energy neutrino-like event reported by KM3NeT. Such a scenario requires the source to be extremely close to Earth, implying detectable gamma-ray and cosmic-ray emission. Accounting for the time-dependent field of view of gamma-ray observatories, we find that current experiments should have observed a pre-burst signal, while neutrino telescopes would also detect lower-energy events before the burst. The absence of such multimessenger signals strongly disfavors a PBH origin of the KM3-230213A event in the minimal 4D Schwarzschild scenario.

Contribution to the 2026 Very High Energy Phenomena in the Universe session of the 60th Rencontres de Moriond. Included determination of DM fraction compatible with the KM3NeT event in a diffuse PBH population scenario