Dark matter searches in the gamma-ray extragalactic background via cross-correlations with galaxy catalogues

We compare the measured angular cross-correlation between the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray sky and catalogues of extra-galactic objects with the expected signal induced by weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter (DM). We include a detailed description of the contribution of astrophysical gamma-ray emitters such as blazars, misaligned AGN and star forming galaxies, and perform a global fit to the measured cross-correlation. Five catalogues are considered: SDSS-DR6 quasars, 2MASS galaxies, NVSS radio galaxies, SDSS-DR8 Luminous Red Galaxies and SDSS-DR8 main galaxy sample. To model the cross-correlation signal we use the halo occupation distribution formalism to estimate the number of galaxies of a given catalogue in DM halos and their spatial correlation properties. We discuss uncertainties in the predicted cross-correlation signal arising from the DM clustering and WIMP microscopic properties, which set the DM gamma-ray emission. The use of different catalogues probing objects at different redshifts reduces significantly, though not completely, the degeneracy among the different gamma-ray components. We find that the presence of a significant WIMP DM signal is allowed by the data but not significantly preferred by the fit, although this is mainly due to a degeneracy with the misaligned AGN component. With modest substructure boost, the sensitivity of this method excludes thermal annihilation cross sections at 95% C.L. for WIMP masses up to few tens of GeV. Constraining the low-redshift properties of astrophysical populations with future data will further improve the sensitivity to DM.

Particle dark matter searches outside the Local Group

If dark matter (DM) is composed by particles which are non-gravitationally coupled to ordinary matter, their annihilations or decays in cosmic structures can result in detectable radiation. We show that the most powerful technique to detect a particle DM signal outside the Local Group is to study the angular cross-correlation of non-gravitational signals with low-redshift gravitational probes. This method allows to enhance signal-to-noise from the regions of the Universe where the DM-induced emission is preferentially generated. We demonstrate the power of this approach by focusing on GeV-TeV DM and on the recent cross-correlation analysis between the 2MASS galaxy catalogue and the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray maps. We show that this technique is more sensitive than other extragalactic gamma-ray probes, such as the energy spectrum and angular autocorrelation of the extragalactic background, and emission from clusters of galaxies. Intriguingly, we find that the measured cross-correlation can be well fitted by a DM component, with thermal annihilation cross section and mass between 10 and 100 GeV, depending on the small-scale DM properties and gamma-ray production mechanism. This solicits further data collection and dedicated analyses.

Probing the nature of Dark Matter with the SKA

Dark Matter (DM) is a fundamental ingredient of our Universe and of structure formation, and yet its nature is elusive to astrophysical probes. Information on the nature and physical properties of the WIMP (neutralino) DM (the leading candidate for a cosmologically relevant DM) can be obtained by studying the astrophysical signals of their annihilation/decay. Among the various e.m. signals, secondary electrons produced by neutralino annihilation generate synchrotron emission in the magnetized atmosphere of galaxy clusters and galaxies which could be observed as a diffuse radio emission (halo or haze) centered on the DM halo. A deep search for DM radio emission with SKA in local dwarf galaxies, galaxy regions with low star formation and galaxy clusters (with offset DM-baryonic distribution, like e.g. the Bullet cluster) can be very effective in constraining the neutralino mass, composition and annihilation cross-section. For the case of a dwarf galaxy, like e.g. Draco, the constraints on the DM annihilation cross-section obtainable with SKA1-MID will be at least a factor $sim 10^3$ more stringent than the limits obtained by Fermi-LAT in the $gamma$-rays. These limits scale with the value of the B field, and the SKA will have the capability to determine simultaneously both the magnetic field in the DM-dominated structures and the DM particle properties. The optimal frequency band for detecting the DM-induced radio emission is around $sim 1$ GHz, with the SKA1-MID Band 1 and 4 important to probe the synchrotron spectral curvature at low-$ u$ (sensitive to DM composition) and at high-$ u$ (sensitive to DM mass).

The isotropic radio background revisited

We present an extensive analysis on the determination of the isotropic radio background. We consider six different radio maps, ranging from 22 MHz to 2.3 GHz and covering a large fraction of the sky. The large scale emission is modeled as a linear combination of an isotropic component plus the Galactic synchrotron radiation and thermal bremsstrahlung. Point-like and extended sources are either masked or accounted for by means of a template. We find a robust estimate of the isotropic radio background, with limited scatter among different Galactic models. The level of the isotropic background lies significantly above the contribution obtained by integrating the number counts of observed extragalactic sources. Since the isotropic component dominates at high latitudes, thus making the profile of the total emission flat, a Galactic origin for such excess appears unlikely. We conclude that, unless a systematic offset is present in the maps, and provided that our current understanding of the Galactic synchrotron emission is reasonable, extragalactic sources well below the current experimental threshold seem to account for the majority of the brightness of the extragalactic radio sky.

Particle dark matter searches in the anisotropic sky

Anisotropies in the electromagnetic emission produced by dark matter annihilation or decay in the extragalactic sky are a recent tool in the quest for a particle dark matter evidence. We review the formalism to compute the two-point angular power spectrum in the halo-model approach and discuss the features and the relative size of the various auto- and cross-correlation signals that can be envisaged for anisotropy studies. From the side of particle dark matter signals, we consider the full multi-wavelength spectrum, from the radio emission to X-ray and gamma-ray productions. We discuss the angular power spectra of the auto-correlation of each of these signals and of the cross-correlation between any pair of them. We then extend the search to comprise specific gravitational tracers of dark matter distribution in the Universe: weak-lensing cosmic shear, large-scale-structure matter distribution and CMB-lensing. We have shown that cross-correlating a multi-wavelength dark matter signal (which is a direct manifestation of its particle physics nature) with a gravitational tracer (which is a manifestation of the presence of large amounts of unseen matter in the Universe) may offer a promising tool to demonstrate that what we call dark matter is indeed formed by elementary particles.

Spherically symmetric cosmological spacetimes with dust and radiation - numerical implementation

We present new numerical cosmological solutions of the Einstein Field Equations. The spacetime is spherically symmetric with a source of dust and radiation approximated as a perfect fluid. The dust and radiation are necessarily non-comoving due to the inhomogeneity of the spacetime. Such a model can be used to investigate non-linear general relativistic effects present during decoupling or big-bang nucleosynthesis, as well as for investigating void models of dark energy with isocurvature degrees of freedom. We describe the full evolution of the spacetime as well as the redshift and luminosity distance for a central observer. After demonstrating accuracy of the code, we consider a few example models, and demonstrate the sensitivity of the late time model to the degree of inhomogeneity of the initial radiation contrast.