THE DISTRIBUTION AND ANNIHILATION OF DARK MATTER AROUND BLACK HOLES

Journal Article · Sat Jun 20 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/806/2/264· OSTI ID:22522241

Schnittman, Jeremy D., E-mail: [e-mail] ^[1]; Joint Space-Science Institute, College Park, MD 20742 ^[2]

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1. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
2. (United States)

We use a Monte Carlo code to calculate the geodesic orbits of test particles around Kerr black holes, generating a distribution function of both bound and unbound populations of dark matter (DM) particles. From this distribution function, we calculate annihilation rates and observable gamma-ray spectra for a few simple DM models. The features of these spectra are sensitive to the black hole spin, observer inclination, and detailed properties of the DM annihilation cross-section and density profile. Confirming earlier analytic work, we find that for rapidly spinning black holes, the collisional Penrose process can reach efficiencies exceeding 600%, leading to a high-energy tail in the annihilation spectrum. The high particle density and large proper volume of the region immediately surrounding the horizon ensures that the observed flux from these extreme events is non-negligible.

• OSTI ID: 22522241
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 806, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ANNIHILATION
BLACK HOLES
CROSS SECTIONS
DENSITY
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS
EFFICIENCY
GAMMA SPECTRA
INCLINATION
MONTE CARLO METHOD
NONLUMINOUS MATTER
ORBITS
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
SPIN
TEST PARTICLES