2005/01/31 by Gianfranco Bertone, David Merritt · 9 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #astro-ph #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.72.103502
published as Phys.Rev.D72:103502,2005 · Four pages
arxiv created 2005/10/17 · openalex publication_date 2005/11/04 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
The prospects for indirect detection of dark matter at the galactic center with \ensuremathγ-ray experiments like the space telescope GLAST, and air Cherenkov telescopes like HESS, CANGAROO, MAGIC and VERITAS depend sensitively on the mass profile within the inner parsec. We calculate the distribution of dark matter on subparsec scales by integrating the time-dependent Fokker-Planck equation, including the effects of self-annihilations, scattering of dark matter particles by stars, and capture in the supermassive black hole. We consider a variety of initial dark matter distributions, including models with very high densities (``spikes'') near the black hole, and models with ``adiabatic compression'' of the baryons. The annihilation signal after 1010 yr is found to be substantially reduced from its initial value, but in dark matter models with an initial spike, order-of-magnitude enhancements can persist compared with the rate in spike-free models.