Plausible Indication of Gamma-Ray Absorption by Dark Matter in NGC 1068

Abstract

NGC 1068 is the brightest extragalactic source in high-energy neutrinos as seen by IceCube, yet the accompanying gamma-ray flux is orders of magnitude weaker. It has been argued that this indicates that the bulk of neutrinos and gamma rays are emitted in the innermost vicinity of the central supermassive black hole, which is transparent to neutrinos, but opaque to gamma rays. Even in such extreme scenarios for the acceleration of cosmic rays, astrophysical models typically overestimate the low-energy gamma-ray flux and/or require some fine-tuning in the physical parameters. Here we suggest instead that the dark matter surrounding the supermassive black hole may absorb the gamma rays, inducing the observed deficit. We show that for a dark matter-photon scattering cross section in the range $\sigma_{\rm DM-\gamma}/m_{\rm DM} \simeq 10^{-28}-10^{-30}$ cm$^2$/GeV, Fermi-LAT measurements can be well reconciled with IceCube data. We also present some simple particle physics examples that achieve the correct spectral energy dependence while respecting complementary constraints.