High-energy neutrinos provide a potentially powerful and distinctive probe for dark matter (DM)–neutrino interactions, particularly in environments with enhanced DM densities, such as the DM spikes predicted to form around supermassive black holes at the center of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Recent results by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, which reported four significant AGNs, namely TXS $0506+056$, NGC 1068, PKS $1424+240$, and NGC 4151 as candidate neutrino sources, provide a valuable opportunity to search for signatures of these interactions. In this study, we use IceCube data to derive the most stringent constraints to date on both the energy-dependent and energy-independent DM-neutrino scattering cross sections. We perform a statistical analysis using data from individual sources as well as a combined (stacked) analysis of all four sources. Our strongest limits arise from the stacking analysis, yielding an upper bound of ${\sigma }_0\lesssim 8\times {10}^{-39}{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ for an energy-independent cross section and ${\sigma }_0\lesssim {10}^{-39}{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ for a linearly energy-dependent cross section, both at 90% confidence level, particularly in scenarios involving the adiabatic growth of black holes.

Close

PrevNext

View figure in article

• Particle astrophysics
• Particle dark matter