Light Neutrinophilic Dark Matter from a Scotogenic Model

Abstract

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 $0\nu \beta \beta$ decay due to loop corrections involving light DM exchange, and (iii) testable lepton flavor-violating signal $\mu\to e\gamma$. Detecting monoenergetic neutrinos from DM annihilation in next-generation neutrino detectors offers a promising way to test this scenario.