Blazar-boosted dark matter: Novel signatures via elastic and inelastic scattering

Blazar-boosted dark matter is a novel mechanism whereby dark matter (DM) particles are accelerated to ultrarelativistic energies through interactions with blazar jets. Focusing on a vector portal DM model, we systematically investigate both elastic and inelastic scattering processes between DM and protons. By analyzing multimessenger data from ground- and space-based observatories, we derive stringent constraints on the DM-proton scattering cross section <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:msub><a:mi>σ</a:mi><a:mrow><a:mi>χ</a:mi><a:mi>p</a:mi></a:mrow></a:msub></a:math>. Our results improve upon previous limits from the constant cross section and pure elastic scattering scenarios by several orders of magnitude. The distinctive high-energy gamma-ray and neutrino fluxes produced through deep inelastic scattering provide powerful signatures for blazar-boosted dark matter indirect detection, enabling constraints that significantly surpass those from traditional direct detection experiments. Notably, our results suggest that DM could be a new source of high-energy neutrinos from blazars, potentially offering an explanation for IceCube’s observation of TXS <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><c:mrow><c:mn>0506</c:mn><c:mo>+</c:mo><c:mn>056</c:mn></c:mrow></c:math>.