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Register a new userThe Effective J-Factor of the Galactic Center for Velocity-Dependent Dark Matter Annihilation
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We present the effective $J$-factors for the Milky Way for scenarios in which dark matter annihilation is p-wave or d-wave suppressed. We find that the velocity suppression of dark matter annihilation can have a sizable effect on the morphology of a potential dark matter annihilation signal in the Galactic Center. The gamma-ray flux from the innermost region of the Galactic Center is in particular suppressed. We find that for dark matter density profiles with steep inner slopes, the morphology of the Inner Galaxy gamma-ray emission in p-wave models can be made similar to the morphology in standard s-wave models. This similarity may suggest that model discrimination between s-wave and p-wave is challenging, for example, when fitting the Galactic Center excess. However, we show that it is difficult to simultaneously match s- and p-wave morphologies at both large and small angular scales. The $J$-factors we calculate may be implemented with astrophysical foreground models to self-consistently determine the morphology of the excess with velocity-suppressed dark matter annihilation.
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The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has observed highly energetic neutrinos in excess of the expected atmospheric neutrino background. It is intriguing to consider the possibility that such events are probing physics beyond the standard model. In this context, $mathcal{O}$(PeV) dark matter particles decaying to neutrinos have been considered while dark matter annihilation has been dismissed invoking the unitarity bound as a limiting factor. However, the latter claim was done ignoring the contribution from dark matter substructure, which for PeV Cold Dark Matter would extend down to a free streaming mass of $mathcal{O}$($10^{-18}$M$_odot$). Since the unitarity bound is less stringent at low velocities, ($sigma_{rm ann}$v)$leq4pi/m_chi^2v$, then, it is possible that these cold and dense subhalos would contribute dominantly to a dark-matter-induced neutrino flux and easily account for the events observed by IceCube. A Sommerfeld-enhanced dark matter model can naturally support such scenario. Interestingly, the spatial distribution of the events shows features that would be expected in a dark matter interpretation. Although not conclusive, 9 of the 37 events appear to be clustered around a region near the Galactic Center while 6 others spatially coincide, within the reported angular errors, with 5 of 26 Milky Way satellites. However, a simple estimate of the probability of the latter occurring by chance is $sim35%$. More events are needed to statistically test this hypothesis. PeV dark matter particles are massive enough that their abundance as standard thermal relics would overclose the Universe. This issue can be solved in alternative scenarios, for instance if the decay of new massive unstable particles generates significant entropy reheating the Universe to a slightly lower temperature than the freeze-out temperature, $T_{rm RH} lesssim T_{rm f}sim4times10^4$~GeV.
We calculate the effective $J$-factors, which determine the strength of indirect detection signals from dark matter annihilation, for 25 dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs). We consider several well-motivated assumptions for the relative velocity dependence of the dark matter annihilation cross section: $sigma_A v$: $s$-wave (velocity independent), $p$-wave ($sigma_A v propto v^2$), $d$-wave ($sigma_A v propto v^4$), and Sommerfeld-enhancement in the Coulomb limit ($sigma_A v propto 1/v$). As a result we provide the largest and most updated sample of J-factors for velocity-dependent annihilation models. For each scenario, we use Fermi-LAT gamma-ray data to constrain the annihilation cross section. Due to the assumptions made in our gamma-ray data analysis, our bounds are comparable to previous bounds on both the $p$-wave and Sommerfeld-enhanced cross sections using dSphs. Our bounds on the $d$-wave cross section are the first such bounds using indirect detection data.
A TeV scale electroweak particle is a well motivated candidate for the dark matter (DM) of our Universe. Yet such a particle may only be detectable using indirect detection instruments sensitive to TeV-scale gamma rays that can result from dark matter annihilations. We present a mock analysis of the sensitivity for the present ground-based Cherenkov telescope array H.E.S.S. (High Energy Spectroscopic System) to detect TeV scale DM in the Galactic Center region. The work combines next-to-leading-logarithmic order calculations for the annihilation photon spectrum, as well as a comprehensive treatment of detector effects and expected backgrounds. Forecast limits on the sensitivity of H.E.S.S. have been derived across the important TeV mass range, assuming different DM density profiles and focusing on the canonical WIMP dark matter candidate Wino.These limits test our present and future ability to probe the predicted thermal cross section for some of the most promising DM candidates that could be discovered in the coming decade.
The Milky Way is expected to be embedded in a halo of dark matter particles, with the highest density in the central region, and decreasing density with the halo-centric radius. Dark matter might be indirectly detectable at Earth through a flux of stable particles generated in dark matter annihilations and peaked in the direction of the Galactic Center. We present a search for an excess flux of muon (anti-) neutrinos from dark matter annihilation in the Galactic Center using the cubic-kilometer-sized IceCube neutrino detector at the South Pole. There, the Galactic Center is always seen above the horizon. Thus, new and dedicated veto techniques against atmospheric muons are required to make the southern hemisphere accessible for IceCube. We used 319.7 live-days of data from IceCube operating in its 79-string configuration during 2010 and 2011. No neutrino excess was found and the final result is compatible with the background. We present upper limits on the self-annihilation cross-section, $left<sigma_mathrm{A} vright>$, for WIMP masses ranging from 30 GeV up to 10 TeV, assuming cuspy (NFW) and flat-cored (Burkert) dark matter halo profiles, reaching down to $simeq 4 cdot 10^{-24}$ cm$^3$ s$^{-1}$, and $simeq 2.6 cdot 10^{-23}$ cm$^3$ s$^{-1}$ for the $ uoverline{ u}$ channel, respectively.
We construct empirical models of the diffuse gamma-ray background toward the Galactic Center. Including all known point sources and a template of emission associated with interactions of cosmic rays with molecular gas, we show that the extended emission observed previously in the Fermi Large Area Telescope data toward the Galactic Center is detected at high significance for all permutations of the diffuse model components. However, we find that the fluxes and spectra of the sources in our model change significantly depending on the background model. In particular, the spectrum of the central Sgr A$^ast$ source is less steep than in previous works and the recovered spectrum of the extended emission has large systematic uncertainties, especially at lower energies. If the extended emission is interpreted to be due to dark matter annihilation, we find annihilation into pure $b$-quark and $tau$-lepton channels to be statistically equivalent goodness of fits. In the case of the pure $b$-quark channel, we find a dark matter mass of $39.4left(^{+3.7}_{-2.9}rm stat.right)left(pm 7.9rm sys.right)rm GeV$, while a pure $tau^{+} tau^{-}$-channel case has an estimated dark matter mass of $9.43left(^{+0.63}_{-0.52}rm stat.right)(pm 1.2rm sys.) GeV$. Alternatively, if the extended emission is interpreted to be astrophysical in origin such as due to unresolved millisecond pulsars, we obtain strong bounds on dark matter annihilation, although systematic uncertainties due to the dependence on the background models are significant.
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