Joint probes of dark matter annihilation from neutrino detectors and CMB targets

Abstract

Dark matter (DM) annihilation into neutrinos provides a promising observational channel targeted by current and forthcoming neutrino detectors. However, the detection of such neutrino fluxes alone cannot uniquely determine their astrophysical or cosmological origin, such as the recent observations from Super-Kamiokande that hint at a small excess of electron antineutrino events. We propose that the effective number of neutrino species and the spectral distortion of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) can serve as complementary observables to probe neutrino signatures from DM annihilation. Using a simple model-independent analysis, we determine the detection windows of these cosmic observables that overlap with the experimental sensitivities from the Super-Kamiokande, Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory, Hyper-Kamiokande, and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, showing that joint probes of large DM annihilation to neutrinos with MeV-GeV masses can be achieved by neutrino detectors and CMB experiments.