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Register a new userExtragalactic gamma-ray signal from dark matter annihilation: an appraisal
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Added by
Gabrijela Zaharijas
Publication date
2014
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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We re-evaluate the extragalactic gamma-ray flux prediction from dark matter annihilation in the approach of integrating over the nonlinear matter power spectrum, extrapolated to the free-streaming scale. We provide an estimate of the uncertainty based entirely on available N-body simulation results and minimal theoretical assumptions. We illustrate how an improvement in the simulation resolution, exemplified by the comparison between the Millennium and Millennium II simulations, affects our estimate of the flux uncertainty and we provide a best guess value for the flux multiplier, based on the assumption of stable clustering for the dark matter perturbations described as a collision-less fluid. We achieve results comparable to traditional Halo Model calculations, but with a much simpler procedure and a more general approach, as it relies only on one, directly measurable quantity. In addition we discuss the extension of our calculation to include baryonic effects as modeled in hydrodynamical cosmological simulations and other possible sources of uncertainty that would in turn affect indirect dark matter signals. Upper limit on the integrated power spectrum from supernovae lensing magnification are also derived and compared with theoretical expectations.
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We revisit the computation of the extragalactic gamma-ray signal from cosmological dark matter annihilations. The prediction of this signal is notoriously model dependent, due to different descriptions of the clumpiness of the dark matter distribution at small scales, responsible for an enhancement with respect to the smoothly distributed case. We show how a direct computation of this flux multiplier in terms of the nonlinear power spectrum offers a conceptually simpler approach and may ease some problems, such as the extrapolation issue. In fact very simple analytical recipes to construct the power spectrum yield results similar to the popular Halo Model expectations, with a straightforward alternative estimate of errors. For this specific application, one also obviates to the need of identifying (often literature-dependent) concepts entering the Halo Model, to compare different simulations.
The first published Fermi large area telescope (Fermi-LAT) measurement of the isotropic diffuse gamma-ray emission is in good agreement with a single power law, and is not showing any signature of a dominant contribution from dark matter sources in the energy range from 20 to 100 GeV. We use the absolute size and spectral shape of this measured flux to derive cross section limits on three types of generic dark matter candidates: annihilating into quarks, charged leptons and monochromatic photons. Predicted gamma-ray fluxes from annihilating dark matter are strongly affected by the underlying distribution of dark matter, and by using different available results of matter structure formation we assess these uncertainties. We also quantify how the dark matter constraints depend on the assumed conventional backgrounds and on the Universes transparency to high-energy gamma-rays. In reasonable background and dark matter structure scenarios (but not in all scenarios we consider) it is possible to exclude models proposed to explain the excess of electrons and positrons measured by the Fermi-LAT and PAMELA experiments. Derived limits also start to probe cross sections expected from thermally produced relics (e.g. in minimal supersymmetry models) annihilating predominantly into quarks. For the monochromatic gamma-ray signature, the current measurement constrains only dark matter scenarios with very strong signals.
Earth-mass dark matter microhalos with size of ~100 AUs are the first structures formed in the universe, if the dark matter of the Universe are made of neutralino. Here, we report the results of ultra-high-resolution simulations of the formation and evolution of these microhalos. We found that microhalos have the central density cusps of the form $rho propto r^{-1.5}$, much steeper than the cusps of larger dark halos. The central regions of these microhalos survive the encounters with stars except in very inner region of the galaxy down to the radius of a few hundreds pcs from the galactic center. The annihilation signals from nearest microhalos are observed as gamma-ray point-sources (radius less than 1), with unusually large proper motions of ~0.2 degree per year. Their surface brightnesses are ~10% of that of the galactic center. Their S/N ratios might be better if they are far from the galactic plane. Luminosities of subhalos are determined only by their mass, and they are more than one order of magnitude luminous than the estimation by Springel et al. (2008): A boost factor can be larger than 1000. Perturbations to the millisecond pulsars by gravitational attractions of nearby earth-mass microhalos can be detected by the observations of Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA).
We are at the dawn of a data-driven era in astrophysics and cosmology. A large number of ongoing and forthcoming experiments combined with an increasingly open approach to data availability offer great potential in unlocking some of the deepest mysteries of the Universe. Among these is understanding the nature of dark matter (DM)---one of the major unsolved problems in particle physics. Characterizing DM through its astrophysical signatures will require a robust understanding of its distribution in the sky and the use of novel statistical methods. The first part of this thesis describes the implementation of a novel statistical technique which leverages the clumpiness of photons originating from point sources (PSs) to derive the properties of PS populations hidden in astrophysical datasets. This is applied to data from the Fermi satellite at high latitudes ($|b| > 30$deg) to characterize the contribution of PSs of extragalactic origin. We find that the majority of extragalactic gamma-ray emission can be ascribed to unresolved PSs having properties consistent with known sources such as active galactic nuclei. This leaves considerably less room for significant dark matter contribution. The second part of this thesis poses the question: what is the best way to look for annihilating dark matter in extragalactic sources? and attempts to answer it by constructing a pipeline to robustly map out the distribution of dark matter outside the Milky Way using galaxy group catalogs. This framework is then applied to Fermi data and existing group catalogs to search for annihilating dark matter in extragalactic galaxies and clusters.
It has been proposed that during the formation of the first generation stars there might be a dark star phase in which the power of the star comes from dark matter annihilation. The adiabatic contraction process to form the dark star would result in a highly concentrated density profile of the host halo at the same time, which may give enhanced indirect detection signals of dark matter. In this work we investigate the extragalactic $gamma$-ray background from dark matter annihilation with such a dark star formation scenario, and employ the isotropic $gamma$-ray data from Fermi-LAT to constrain the model parameters of dark matter. The results suffer from large uncertainties of both the formation rate of the first generation stars and the subsequent evolution effects of the host halos of the dark stars. We find, in the most optimistic case for $gamma$-ray production via dark matter annihilation, the expected extragalactic $gamma$-ray flux will be enhanced by 1-2 orders of magnitude. In such a case, the annihilation cross section of the supersymmetric dark matter can be constrained to the thermal production level, and the leptonic dark matter model which is proposed to explain the positron/electron excesses can be well excluded. Conversely, if the positron/electron excesses are of a dark matter annihilation origin, then the early Universe environment is such that no dark star can form.
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