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Abstract: CALET (CALorimetric Electron Telescope) is in operation on the ISS since October 2015 and directly measures the electron+positron cosmic-ray spectrum up into the TeV-region with fine energy resolution and good proton rejection. Interpretations of the latest results published in [O. Adriani et al. PRL 120, 261102] regarding Dark Matter signatures are presented. Limits on annihilation and decay of Dark Matter were calculated based on an analytic parametrization of the local electron and positron spectra, including a term representing the flux from nearby pulsars as the extra electron-positron-pair source responsible for the positron excess, which is fitted to CALET data and positron flux/fraction data of AMS-02. The expected flux from Dark Matter is calculated with PYTHIA and DRAGON and added to the parametrization with increasing scale factor until reaching 95%CL exclusion, returning a limit on the annihilation cross-section or lifetime. By treating systematic uncertainties with known energy dependence as corrections to the fit function, limits were improved compared to all-random errors. Structures appear in the spectrum, which have been investigated as potential Dark Matter signatures by looking for an improvement of the fit quality with addition of flux from Dark Matter. Thereby, annihilation of ~350 GeV or decay of ~700 GeV Dark Matter to electron-positron pairs is identified as a possible explanation of a step-like structure around 350 GeV. The significance of this signature, Dark Matter explanations of other spectral features and possible astrophysical alternatives are discussed.
Keywords: Cosmic-rays, Dark Matter, CALET
Published in RUNG: 05.10.2023; Views: 314; Downloads: 5
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Abstract: Dark matter (DM) is one of the major components in the Universe. However, at present its existence is still only inferred through indirect astronomical observations. DM particles can annihilate or decay, producing final-state Standard Model pairs that subsequently annihilate into high-energy �-rays. The dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) in the Milky Way DM halo have long been considered optimal targets to search for annihilating DM signatures in GeV-to-TeV �-ray spectra due to their high DM densities (hence high astrophysical factors), as well as the expected absence of intrinsic �-ray emission of astrophysical origin. For such targets, it is important to compute the amount of DM in their halos in a consistent way to optimize the �-ray data analysis. Such estimates directly affect the observability of DM signals in dSphs, as well as the DM constraints that can be derived in case of null detection. In this contribution, we present the results on the sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) for DM annihilation and decay searches using planned observations of the Milky Way dSphs. We select the most promising targets among all presently known dwarf satellites, providing new determinations of their expected DM signal. This study shows an improvement of approximately an order of magnitude in sensitivity compared to current searches in similar targets. We also discuss the results in terms of cuspy and cored DM models, and investigate the sensitivity obtained by the combination of observations from different dSphs. Finally, we explore the optimal strategies for CTA observations of dSphs.
Keywords: Cherenkov Telescope Array, CTA, Dark matter, Standard Model, dwarf spheroidal galaxies
Published in RUNG: 26.09.2023; Views: 275; Downloads: 4
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Abstract: High-energy gamma rays are promising tools to constrain or reveal the nature of dark matter, in particular Weakly Interacting Massive Particles. Being well into its pre-construction phase, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will soon probe the sky in the 20 GeV - 300 TeV energy range. Thanks to its improved energy and angular resolutions as well as significantly larger e˙ective area when compared to the current generation of Cherenkov telescopes, CTA is expected to probe heavier dark matter, with unprecedented sensitivity, reaching the thermal annihilation cross-section at 1 TeV. This talk will summarise the planned dark matter search strategies with CTA, focusing on the signal from the Galactic centre. As observed with the Fermi LAT at lower energies, this region is rather complex and CTA will be the first ground-based observatory sensitive to the large scale di˙use astrophysical emission from that region. We report on the collaboration e˙ort to study the impact of such extended astrophysical backgrounds on the dark matter search, based on Fermi-LAT data in order to guide our observational strategies, taking into account various sources of systematic uncertainty.
Keywords: high-energy gamma rays, Cherenkov Telescope Array, dark matter, galactic centre
Published in RUNG: 18.09.2023; Views: 212; Downloads: 6
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Keywords: ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic rays, Pierre Auger Observatory, UHE photon flux upper limits, super-heavy dark matter models, instantons
Published in RUNG: 09.02.2023; Views: 704; Downloads: 0
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Abstract: Gamma-ray observations have long been used to constrain the properties of dark matter (DM), with a strong focus on weakly interacting massive particles annihilating through velocity-independent processes. However, in the absence of clear-cut observational evidence for the simplest candidates, the interest of the community in more complex DM scenarios involving a velocity-dependent cross-section has been growing steadily over the past few years. We present the first systematic study of velocity-dependent DM annihilation (in particular p-wave annihilation and Sommerfeld enhancement) in a variety of astrophysical objects, not only including the well-studied Milky Way dwarf satellite galaxies, but nearby dwarf irregular galaxies and local galaxy clusters as well. Particular attention is given to the interplay between velocity dependence and DM halo substructure. Uncertainties related to halo mass, phase-space and substructure modelling are also discussed in this velocity-dependent context. We show that, for s-wave annihilation, extremely large subhalo boost factors are to be expected, up to 10^11 in clusters and up to 10^6–10^7 in dwarf galaxies where subhalos are usually assumed not to play an important role. Boost factors for p-wave annihilation are smaller but can still reach 10^3 in clusters. The angular extension of the DM signal is also significantly impacted, with e.g. the cluster typical emission radius increasing by a factor of order 10 in the s-wave case. We also compute the signal contrast of the objects in our sample with respect to annihilation happening in the Milky Way halo. Overall, we find that the hierarchy between the brightest considered targets depends on the specific details of the assumed particle-physics model.
Keywords: dark matter theory, dwarf galaxies, galaxy clusters, gamma-ray theory
Published in RUNG: 27.01.2023; Views: 764; Downloads: 0
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