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  • Open Access

Possible high-energy neutrino emission from dark matter annihilation in the disrupting dwarf galaxy Boötes III

Shunhao Ji and Zhongxiang Wang

  • Department of Astronomy, School of Physics and Astronomy, Key Laboratory of Astroparticle Physics of Yunnan Province, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 083001 – Published 1 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rxxw-wj8b

Abstract

We report the first search for high-energy neutrino emissions from dark matter (DM) annihilation in stellar-stream cores. Motivated by a recent gamma-ray study that proposed these cores as a new class of indirect DM targets, we analyze three stream cores in the Northern Hemisphere using the public ten-year tracklike neutrino data released by IceCube. Under the χχ→νν¯ annihilation hypothesis, the most significant excess among the three targets is found at the position of the nearby dwarf galaxy Boötes III, the core of the Styx stream, with the DM mass of mχ≃10–31  TeV. The excess has a posttrial significance of 3.1σ. Considering the existing IceCube dwarf-galaxy limit for the same channel, we obtain a limit on the J-factor Jann, log10(Jann/GeV2 cm−5)≳19.1−0.6+0.3. This limit is broadly consistent with empirical estimates of Jann for Boötes III. The results provide the first candidate target with a possible high-energy neutrino signal associated with DM annihilation. This neutrino excess and the general existence of DM-induced neutrino signals from other similar sources will be confirmed with the near-future large high-energy neutrino detectors, thus enabling us to probe the nature of DM particles.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 083001– Published 1 October, 2026
  • Received 1 June 2026
  • Accepted 15 September 2026
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