Extracting the gamma ray signal from dark matter annihilation in the galactic center region

2007/11/30 by Scott Dodelson, Dan Hooper, Pasquale D. Serpico +1 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #astro-ph #hep-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.77.063512

published as Phys.Rev.D77:063512,2008 · 8 pages, 5 figures. Minor changes, note added. Matches published version

openalex publication_date 2008/03/06 · arxiv created 2008/03/13 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

The GLAST satellite mission will study the gamma ray sky with considerably greater exposure than its predecessor EGRET. In addition, it will be capable of measuring the arrival directions of gamma rays with much greater precision. These features each significantly enhance GLAST's potential for identifying gamma rays produced in the annihilations of dark matter particles. The combined use of spectral and angular information, however, is essential if the full sensitivity of GLAST to dark matter is to be exploited. In this paper, we discuss the separation of dark matter annihilation products from astrophysical backgrounds, focusing on the galactic center region, and perform a forecast for such an analysis. We consider both pointlike and diffuse astrophysical backgrounds and model them using a point-spread-function for GLAST. While the results of our study depend on the specific characteristics of the dark matter signal and astrophysical backgrounds, we find that in many scenarios it is possible to successfully identify dark matter annihilation radiation, even in the presence of significant astrophysical backgrounds.

Citations

• Possible evidence for dark matter annihilations from the excess microwave emission around the center of the Galaxy seen by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
• X-ray radiation from the annihilation of dark matter at the galactic center
• TeVγ-rays and the largest masses and annihilation cross sections of neutralino dark matter
• Which fraction of the measured cosmic-ray antiprotons might be due to neutralino annihilation in the galactic halo?
• Low energy antideuterons: shedding light on dark matter
• Time-dependent models for dark matter at the galactic center
• Diffuse inverse Compton and synchrotron emission from dark matter annihilations in galactic satellites
• The Galactic center as a dark matter gamma-ray source
• Observation of Gamma Rays from the Galactic Center with the MAGIC Telescope
• The role of antimatter searches in the hunt for supersymmetric dark matter
• Three‐YearWilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe(WMAP) Observations: Implications for Cosmology

Cited by

• Fitting the gamma-ray spectrum from dark matter with DMFIT: GLAST and the galactic center region