# Dark matter decays from the galactic center using IceCube-86

 dc.contributor Toale, Patrick A. dc.contributor Keel, W. C. dc.contributor Okada, Nobuchika dc.contributor Henderson, Conor dc.contributor Gupta, Subhadra dc.contributor.advisor Williams, Dawn R. dc.contributor.author Pepper, James Alan dc.date.accessioned 2017-07-28T14:12:58Z dc.date.available 2017-07-28T14:12:58Z dc.date.issued 2017 dc.identifier.other u0015_0000001_0002684 dc.identifier.other Pepper_alatus_0004D_12985 dc.identifier.uri http://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/3280 dc.description Electronic Thesis or Dissertation dc.description.abstract Most searches for Dark Matter primarily focus on the WIMP paradigm, which predicts dark matter masses in the GeV - 10 TeV range. However, these relatively low energy searches continue to produce null results, possibly suggesting that dark matter is something other than WIMPs. Gravitinos, on the other hand, can satisfy the cosmological constraints on dark matter, and decay with a lifetime orders of magnitude longer than the age of the universe, producing extremely high energy neutrinos. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has already had success detecting EHE extragalactic neutrinos, and is well suited to search for dark matter in this high energy regime. This analysis sets limits on the gravitino lifetime from the high energy neutrino events observed at IceCube using three possible astrophysical explanations of the neutrino flux. The most conservative limit on the gravitino lifetime using the softest two-body decay mode was found to be $\tau_{DM} = 10^{27.6}s$. This is the first analysis developed to place a limit on the gravitino lifetime using IceCube software and simulation files, and the results are comparable to theoretical limits based on the same data set. dc.format.extent 94 p. dc.format.medium electronic dc.format.mimetype application/pdf dc.language English dc.language.iso en_US dc.publisher University of Alabama Libraries dc.relation.ispartof The University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations dc.relation.ispartof The University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collections dc.relation.hasversion born digital dc.rights All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated. dc.subject.other Particle physics dc.subject.other Astrophysics dc.subject.other Physics dc.title Dark matter decays from the galactic center using IceCube-86 dc.type thesis dc.type text etdms.degree.department University of Alabama. Dept. of Physics and Astronomy etdms.degree.discipline Physics etdms.degree.grantor The University of Alabama etdms.degree.level doctoral etdms.degree.name Ph.D.
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