2009/10/31 by Sofia Sivertsson, Joakim Edsjo, Joakim Edsjö · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #astro-ph.HE #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.81.063502
published as Phys.Rev.D81:063502,2010 · 18 pages, 7 figures, latex, updated to match published version.
openalex publication_date 2010/03/01 · arxiv created 2010/03/25 · arxiv updated 2010/04/29 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Galactic weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) may scatter off solar nuclei to orbits gravitationally bound to the Sun. Once bound, the WIMPs continue to lose energy by repeated scatters in the Sun, eventually leading to complete entrapment in the solar interior. While the density of the bound population is highest at the center of the Sun, the only observable signature of WIMP annihilations inside the Sun is neutrinos. It has been previously suggested that although the density of WIMPs just outside the Sun is lower than deep inside, gamma rays from WIMP annihilation just outside the surface of the Sun, in the so-called WIMP halo around the Sun, may be more easily detected. We here revisit this problem using detailed Monte Carlo simulations and detailed composition and structure information about the Sun to estimate the size of the gamma-ray flux. Compared to earlier simpler estimates, we find that the gamma-ray flux from WIMP annihilations in the solar WIMP halo would be negligible; no current or planned detectors would be able to detect this flux.