Light neutrinophilic dark matter from a scotogenic model

We present a minimal sub-GeV thermal Dark Matter (DM) model where the DM primarily interacts with neutrinos and participates in neutrino mass generation through quantum loop corrections at one-loop level. We discuss the challenges in achieving this in the scotogenic framework and identify a viable variant. Due to minimality and the interplay between obtaining the correct DM relic abundance and neutrino oscillation data, the model predicts (i) a massless lightest neutrino, (ii) enhanced rate of 0 nu/3/3 decay due to loop corrections involving light DM exchange, and (iii) testable lepton flavor-violating signal mu -> e gamma. Detecting monoenergetic neutrinos from DM annihilation in next-generation neutrino detectors offers a promising way to test this scenario.(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons .org /licenses /by /4 .0/). Funded by SCOAP3.