Implications of high-resolution simulations on indirect dark matter searches

Journal Article · Sat Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.83.023518· OSTI ID:21503939

Pieri, Lidia; Bertone, Gianfranco ^[1]; Lavalle, Julien ^[2]; Branchini, Enzo ^[3]

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1. Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, France, UMR7095-CNRS, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, 98bis Boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris (France)
2. Dipartimento di Fisica Teorica, Universita di Torino, and INFN, Via Giuria 1, I-10125 Torino (Italy)
3. Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Roma 3, Via della Vasca Navale 84, I-00146 Roma (Italy)

We study the prospects for detecting the annihilation products of dark matter (DM) in the framework of the two highest-resolution numerical simulations currently available, i.e., Via Lactea II and Aquarius. We propose a strategy to determine the shape and size of the region around the Galactic center that maximizes the probability of observing a DM signal, and we show that, although the predicted flux can differ by a factor of 10 for a given DM candidate in the two simulation setups, the search strategy remains actually unchanged, since it relies on the angular profile of the annihilation flux, not on its normalization. We present mock {gamma}-ray maps that keep into account the diffuse emissions produced by unresolved halos in the Galaxy, and we show that, in an optimistic DM scenario, a few individual clumps can be resolved above the background with the Fermi-LAT. Finally, we calculate the energy-dependent boost factors for positrons and antiprotons and show that they are always of O(1), and, therefore, they cannot lead to the large enhancements of the antimatter fluxes required to explain the recent PAMELA, ATIC, Fermi, and HESS data. Still, we show that the annihilation of 100 GeV weakly interacting massive particles into charged lepton pairs may contribute significantly to the positron budget.

• OSTI ID: 21503939
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 83, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.83.023518; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ANNIHILATION
ANTIPROTONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
EMISSION
ENERGY DEPENDENCE
GALAXIES
GAMMA RADIATION
GEV RANGE 100-1000
LEPTONS
NONLUMINOUS MATTER
PAIR PRODUCTION
PARTICLES
POSITRONS
PROBABILITY
RESOLUTION
WEAK INTERACTIONS
ANTIBARYONS
ANTILEPTONS
ANTIMATTER
ANTINUCLEI
ANTINUCLEONS
ANTIPARTICLES
BARYONS
BASIC INTERACTIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY RANGE
FERMIONS
GEV RANGE
HADRONS
INTERACTIONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MATTER
NUCLEI
NUCLEONS
PARTICLE INTERACTIONS
PARTICLE PRODUCTION
PROTONS
RADIATIONS
SIMULATION