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Constraints on heavy decaying dark matter from 570 days of LHAASO observations

The Kilometer Square Array~(KM2A) of the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) aims at surveying the northern gamma-ray sky at energies above 10 TeV with unprecedented sensitivity. Gamma-ray observations have long been one of the most powerful tools for dark matter searches, as e.g., high-energy gamma-rays could be produced by the decays of heavy dark matter particles. In this letter, we present the first dark matter analysis with LHAASO-KM2A, using the first 340~days of data from 1/2-KM2A and 230~days of data from 3/4-KM2A. Several regions of interest are used to search for a signal and account for the residual cosmic-ray background after gamma/hadron separation. We find no excess of dark matter signals, and thus place some of the strongest gamma-ray constraints on the lifetime of heavy dark matter particles with mass between 10^5 and 10^9~GeV. Our results with LHAASO are robust, and have important implications for dark matter interpretations of the diffuse astrophysical high-energy neutrino emission.

preprint2026arXivOpen access
The LHAASO CollaborationZhen CaoF. AharonianQ. AnAxikeguL. X. BaiY. X. BaiY. W. BaoD. BastieriX. J. BiY. J. BiJ. T. CaiZhe CaoJ. ChangJ. F. ChangE. S. ChenLiang ChenLong ChenM. J. ChenM. L. ChenQ. H. ChenS. H. ChenS. Z. ChenT. L. ChenY. ChenH. L. ChengN. ChengY. D. ChengS. W. CuiX. H. CuiY. D. CuiB. D Ettorre PiazzoliB. Z. DaiH. L. DaiZ. G. DaiDanzengluobuD. della VolpeK. K. DuanJ. H. FanY. Z. FanZ. X. FanJ. FangK. FangC. F. FengL. FengS. H. FengX. T. FengY. L. FengB. GaoC. D. GaoL. Q. GaoQ. GaoW. GaoW. K. GaoM. M. GeL. S. GengG. H. GongQ. B. GouM. H. GuF. L. GuoJ. G. GuoX. L. GuoY. Q. GuoY. Y. GuoY. A. HanH. H. HeH. N. HeS. L. HeX. B. HeY. HeM. HellerY. K. HorC. HouX. HouH. B. HuQ. HuS. HuS. C. HuX. J. HuD. H. HuangW. H. HuangX. T. HuangX. Y. HuangY. HuangZ. C. HuangX. L. JiH. Y. JiaK. JiaK. JiangZ. J. JiangM. JinM. M. KangT. KeD. KuleshovK. LevochkinB. B. LiCheng LiCong LiF. LiH. B. LiH. C. LiH. Y. LiJ. LiJian LiJie LiK. LiW. L. LiX. R. LiXin LiY. Z. LiZhe LiZhuo LiE. W. LiangY. F. LiangS. J. LinB. LiuC. LiuD. LiuH. LiuH. D. LiuJ. LiuJ. L. LiuJ. S. LiuJ. Y. LiuM. Y. LiuR. Y. LiuS. M. LiuW. LiuY. LiuY. N. LiuW. J. LongR. LuQ. LuoH. K. LvB. Q. MaL. L. MaX. H. MaJ. R. MaoA. MasoodZ. MinW. MitthumsiriY. C. NanZ. W. OuB. Y. PangP. PattarakijwanichZ. Y. PeiM. Y. QiY. Q. QiB. Q. QiaoJ. J. QinD. RuffoloA. SaizC. Y. ShaoL. ShaoO. ShchegolevX. D. ShengJ. Y. ShiH. C. SongYu. V. StenkinV. StepanovY. SuQ. N. SunX. N. SunZ. B. SunP. H. T. TamZ. B. TangW. W. TianB. D. WangC. WangH WangH. G. WangJ. C. WangJ. S. WangL. P. WangL. Y. WangR. WangR. N. WangW. WangX. G. WangX. Y. WangY. WangY. D. WangY. J. WangY. P. WangZ. H. WangZ. X. WangZhen WangZheng WangD. M. WeiJ. J. WeiY. J. WeiT. WenC. Y. WuH. R. WuS. WuX. F. WuY. S. WuS. Q. XiJ. XiaJ. J. XiaG. M. XiangD. X. XiaoG. XiaoG. G. XinY. L. XinY. XingZ. XiongD. L. XuR. X. XuL. XueD. H. YanJ. Z. YanC. W. YangF. F. YangH. W. YangJ. Y. YangL. L. YangM. J. YangR. Z. YangS. B. YangY. H. YaoZ. G. YaoY. M. YeL. Q. YinN. YinX. H. YouZ. Y. YouY. H. YuQ. YuanH. YueH. D. ZengT. X. ZengW. ZengZ. K. ZengM. ZhaX. X. ZhaiB. B. ZhangF. ZhangH. M. ZhangH. Y. ZhangJ. L. ZhangL. X. ZhangLi ZhangLu ZhangP. F. ZhangP. P. ZhangR. ZhangS. B. ZhangS. R. ZhangS. S. ZhangX. ZhangX. P. ZhangY. F. ZhangY. L. ZhangYi ZhangYong ZhangB. ZhaoJ. ZhaoL. ZhaoL. Z. ZhaoS. P. ZhaoF. ZhengY. ZhengB. ZhouH. ZhouJ. N. ZhouP. ZhouR. ZhouX. X. ZhouC. G. ZhuF. R. ZhuH. ZhuK. J. ZhuX. ZuoS. AndoM. ChianeseD. F. G. FiorilloG. MieleK. C. Y. Ng
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The LHAASO CollaborationZhen CaoF. AharonianQ. AnAxikeguL. X. BaiY. X. BaiY. W. BaoD. BastieriX. J. BiY. J. BiJ. T. CaiZhe CaoJ. ChangJ. F. ChangE. S. ChenLiang ChenLong ChenM. J. ChenM. L. ChenQ. H. ChenS. H. ChenS. Z. ChenT. L. ChenY. ChenH. L. ChengN. ChengY. D. ChengS. W. CuiX. H. CuiY. D. CuiB. D Ettorre PiazzoliB. Z. DaiH. L. DaiZ. G. DaiDanzengluobuD. della VolpeK. K. DuanJ. H. FanY. Z. FanZ. X. FanJ. FangK. FangC. F. FengL. FengS. H. FengX. T. FengY. L. FengB. GaoC. D. GaoL. Q. GaoQ. GaoW. GaoW. K. GaoM. M. GeL. S. GengG. H. GongQ. B. GouM. H. GuF. L. GuoJ. G. GuoX. L. GuoY. Q. GuoY. Y. GuoY. A. HanH. H. HeH. N. HeS. L. HeX. B. HeY. HeM. HellerY. K. HorC. HouX. HouH. B. HuQ. HuS. HuS. C. HuX. J. HuD. H. HuangW. H. HuangX. T. HuangX. Y. HuangY. HuangZ. C. HuangX. L. JiH. Y. JiaK. JiaK. JiangZ. J. JiangM. JinM. M. KangT. KeD. KuleshovK. LevochkinB. B. LiCheng LiCong LiF. LiH. B. LiH. C. LiH. Y. LiJ. LiJian LiJie LiK. LiW. L. LiX. R. LiXin LiY. Z. LiZhe LiZhuo LiE. W. LiangY. F. LiangS. J. LinB. LiuC. LiuD. LiuH. LiuH. D. LiuJ. LiuJ. L. LiuJ. S. LiuJ. Y. LiuM. Y. LiuR. Y. LiuS. M. LiuW. LiuY. LiuY. N. LiuW. J. LongR. LuQ. LuoH. K. LvB. Q. MaL. L. MaX. H. MaJ. R. MaoA. MasoodZ. MinW. MitthumsiriY. C. NanZ. W. OuB. Y. PangP. PattarakijwanichZ. Y. PeiM. Y. QiY. Q. QiB. Q. QiaoJ. J. QinD. RuffoloA. SaizC. Y. ShaoL. ShaoO. ShchegolevX. D. ShengJ. Y. ShiH. C. SongYu. V. StenkinV. StepanovY. SuQ. N. SunX. N. SunZ. B. SunP. H. T. TamZ. B. TangW. W. TianB. D. WangC. WangH WangH. G. WangJ. C. WangJ. S. WangL. P. WangL. Y. WangR. WangR. N. WangW. WangX. G. WangX. Y. WangY. WangY. D. WangY. J. WangY. P. WangZ. H. WangZ. X. WangZhen WangZheng WangD. M. WeiJ. J. WeiY. J. WeiT. WenC. Y. WuH. R. WuS. WuX. F. WuY. S. WuS. Q. XiJ. XiaJ. J. XiaG. M. XiangD. X. XiaoG. XiaoG. G. XinY. L. XinY. XingZ. XiongD. L. XuR. X. XuL. XueD. H. YanJ. Z. YanC. W. YangF. F. YangH. W. YangJ. Y. YangL. L. YangM. J. YangR. Z. YangS. B. YangY. H. YaoZ. G. YaoY. M. YeL. Q. YinN. YinX. H. YouZ. Y. YouY. H. YuQ. YuanH. YueH. D. ZengT. X. ZengW. ZengZ. K. ZengM. ZhaX. X. ZhaiB. B. ZhangF. ZhangH. M. ZhangH. Y. ZhangJ. L. ZhangL. X. ZhangLi ZhangLu ZhangP. F. ZhangP. P. ZhangR. ZhangS. B. ZhangS. R. ZhangS. S. ZhangX. ZhangX. P. ZhangY. F. ZhangY. L. ZhangYi ZhangYong ZhangB. ZhaoJ. ZhaoL. ZhaoL. Z. ZhaoS. P. ZhaoF. ZhengY. ZhengB. ZhouH. ZhouJ. N. ZhouP. ZhouR. ZhouX. X. ZhouC. G. ZhuF. R. ZhuH. ZhuK. J. ZhuX. ZuoS. AndoM. ChianeseD. F. G. FiorilloG. MieleK. C. Y. Ng

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