Implications of the KM3NeT ultrahigh-energy event on neutrino self-interactions
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Neutrino self-interactions ( ν SI ) mediated by light bosonic particles can produce characteristic spectral dips in astrophysical neutrino fluxes, thereby altering the expected energy spectrum. The high-energy astrophysical neutrino spectrum has been extensively used to probe ν SI models through these distinctive features. The recent detection of the ultrahigh-energy event KM3-230213A presents a new opportunity to explore ν SI phenomenology at extreme energies. In this work, we investigate two implications of this observation, assuming the event originates from a diffuse power-law spectrum. First, we find that ν SI -induced spectral distortions can mildly alleviate the tension between the KM3-230213A detection and the previous nonobservation of PeV-scale neutrinos in IceCube data. Second, we derive the strongest constraints on the τ -flavored ν SI coupling strength for mediator masses around 100 MeV. Our analysis shows that neutrino telescopes can surpass existing collider bounds in this mass range. In the near future, IceCube-Gen2 is expected to significantly enhance ν SI sensitivity, including regions relevant to alleviating the Hubble and neutrino mass tensions.
DOI: 10.1103/bb85-7kyf
Authors: Yuxuan He, Jia Liu, Xiao-Ping Wang, Yi-Ming Zhong
Language: English
Topic: Neutrino Physics Research
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funders: City University of Hong Kong, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, Peking University, Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics
OpenAlex ID: W7124941218