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  • Letter
  • Open Access
  • Access by Xinjiang University

Super-Kamiokande strongly constrains leptophilic dark matter capture in the Sun

Thong T. Q. Nguyen1,*, Tim Linden1,†, Pierluca Carenza1,‡, and Axel Widmark1,2,§

  • *Contact author: thong.nguyen@fysik.su.se
  • †Contact author: linden@fysik.su.se
  • ‡Contact author: pierluca.carenza@fysik.su.se
  • §Contact author: axel.widmark@fysik.su.se
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Phys. Rev. D 113, L101305 – Published 13 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/txsw-2kdf

Abstract

The Sun can efficiently capture leptophilic dark matter that scatters with free electrons. If this dark matter subsequently annihilates into leptonic states, it can produce a detectable neutrino flux. Using 10 years of Super-Kamiokande observations, we set constraints on the dark matter–electron scattering cross section that exceed terrestrial direct detection searches by more than an order of magnitude for dark matter masses below 100 GeV and reach cross sections as low as ∼4×10−41  cm2.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, L101305– Published 13 May, 2026
  • Received 19 February 2025
  • Revised 10 June 2025
  • Accepted 17 April 2026
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