Annihilation Cross Section Research Articles

Constraints on dark matter annihilation from the FAST observation of the Coma Berenices dwarf galaxy

The Galactic center $\gamma$-ray excess, detected by the Fermi-LAT, is a very attractive tentative signal from dark matter annihilation. Searching for associated synchrotron emissions can test the dark matter interpretation for this excess. We geared the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) towards Coma Berenices (a dwarf Spheroidal galaxy) for 2-hours of observation, and found no significant continuum radio emission, which could { put constraints on the dark matter annihilation cross section}, from our target. We set very stringent annihilation cross-section constraints, with roughly an order of magnitude improvement over a large range of masses compared with previous radio searches. The dark matter scenario for the Galactic center $\gamma$-ray excess is in tension with the FAST observation for reasonable choices of astrophysical factors. But considering the large uncertainty on astrophysical parameters, such as the magnetic field, the diffusion coefficient, and the diffusion radius, and on DM halo parameters, the dark matter interpretation for the excess could still survive. Further radio observations by the FAST and other radio telescopes may reveal more about the dark matter properties.

Langevin simulation of dark matter kinetic equilibration

Recently it has been questioned, notably in the context of the scalar singlet dark matter model with mφ ≃ 60 GeV, how efficiently kinetic equilibrium is maintained if freeze-out dynamics is pushed down to low temperatures by resonant effects. We outline how Langevin simulations can be employed for addressing the non-equilibrium momentum distribution of non-relativistic particles in a cosmological background. For a scalar singlet mass mφ ≃ 60 GeV, these simulations suggest that kinetic equilibrium is a good approximation down to T ∼ 1 GeV, with the deviation first manifesting itself as a red-tilted spectrum. This reduces the annihilation cross section, confirming findings from other methods that a somewhat larger (< 20%) coupling than in equilibrium is needed for obtaining the correct abundance.

Weakly interacting massive particle cross section limits from LOFAR observations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies

Context. Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) can self-annihilate, thus providing us with a way to indirectly detect dark matter (DM). Dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies are excellent places to search for annihilation signals because they are rich in DM and background emission is low. If O(0.1–10 μG) magnetic fields in dSph galaxies exist, the particles produced in DM annihilation emit synchrotron radiation in the radio band. Aims. We used the non-detection of 150 MHz radio continuum emission from dSph galaxies with the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) to derive constraints on the annihilation cross section of WIMPs in electron–positron pairs. Our main underlying assumption is that the transport of the cosmic rays can be described by the diffusion approximation, which necessitates the existence of magnetic fields. Methods. We used observations of six dSph galaxies in the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS). The data were reimaged, and a radial profile was generated for each galaxy. We also used stacking to increase the sensitivity. In order to derive upper limits on the WIMP cross section, we injected fake Gaussian sources into the data, which were then detected with 2σ significance in the radial profile. These sources represent the lowest emission we would have been able to detect. Results. We present limits from the observations of individual galaxies as well as from stacking. We explored the uncertainty due to the choice of diffusion and magnetic field parameters by constructing three different model scenarios: optimistic (OPT), intermediate (INT), and pessimistic (PES). Assuming monochromatic annihilation into electron–positron pairs, the limits from the INT scenario exclude thermal WIMPs (⟨σv⟩≈2.2 × 10−26 cm3 s−1) below 20 GeV, and the limits from the OPT scenario even exclude thermal WIMPs below 70 GeV. The INT limits can compete with limits set by Fermi-LAT using γ-ray observations of multiple dwarf galaxies, and they are especially strong for low WIMP masses.

Dark matter perspective of left-right symmetric gauge model

We consider an incarnation of left-right symmetric model with a local gauge symmetry of SU(3)C⊗SU(2)L⊗U(1)L⊗SU(2)R⊗U(1)R. Heavy scalars and fermions present in the 27 of E6 are included in the matter sector along with the Standard Model (SM) fermions. Two such colour singlet fermions, N and LS, transforming as bi-doublet and singlet under SU(2) s respectively, can be potential candidates for Dark Matter (DM). Assignment of U(1) charges for the matter fields restricts some of the exotic fermions to interact with the SM fermions. We study in some details the prospect of such fermionic dark matters by calculating relic densities and direct detection cross-sections by treating both these particles as relics. In such a two component Dark Matter scenario, LS having smaller interaction with the SM, will dominantly contribute to relic density. However, it cannot be detected at earth bound experiments with their present sensitivity. On the contrary, N having higher rate of interaction with the SM particle has too large annihilation cross-section thus contributes very little to relic density. In fact, its interaction with the SM is too high such that N-nucleon cross-section for a wide range of N mass is higher than the experimental limits from XENON, LUX or PICO. However, such a high N-nucleon cross-section can be tamed by assuming additional dimension-6 operators involving N and SM quarks. We derive limits on the strengths of such interactions from experimental data.

Multi-messenger constraints on Abelian-Higgs cosmic string networks

Nielsen-Olesen vortices in the Abelian-Higgs (AH) model are the simplest realisations of cosmic strings in a gauge field theory. Large-scale numerical solutions show that the dominant decay channel of a network of AH strings produced from random initial conditions is classical field radiation. However, they also show that with special initial conditions, loops of string can be created for which classical field radiation is suppressed, and which behave like Nambu-Goto (NG) strings with a dominant decay channel into gravitational radiation. This indicates that cosmic strings are generically sources of both high-energy particles and gravitational waves. Here we adopt a simple parametrisation of the AH string network allowing for both particle and gravitational wave production. With a reference to a specific model for NG-like loop distribution, this sets the basis for a “multi-messenger” investigation of this model. We find that, in order to explain the NANOGrav detection of a possible gravitational wave background, while satisfying the constraint on NG-like loop production from simulations and bounds from the cosmic microwave background, the tension of the AH string in Planck units Gμ and the fraction of the NG-like loops f NG should satisfy Gμ f NG 2.6 ≳ 3.2 × 10-13 at 95% confidence. On the other hand, for such string tensions, constraints from the diffuse gamma-ray background (DGRB) indicate that more than 97% of the total network energy should be converted to dark matter (DM) or dark radiation. We also consider joint constraints on the annihilation cross-section, the mass, and the relic abundance of DM produced by decays of strings. For example, for a DM mass of 500 GeV, the observed relic abundance can be explained by decaying AH strings that also account for the NANOGrav signal.

Impact of QCD uncertainties on antiproton spectra from dark-matter annihilation

Dark-matter particles that annihilate or decay can undergo complex sequences of processes, including strong and electromagnetic radiation, hadronisation, and hadron decays, before particles that are stable on astrophysical time scales are produced. Antiprotons produced in this way may leave footprints in experiments such as AMS–02. Several groups have reported an excess of events in the antiproton flux in the rigidity range of 10–20 GV. However, the theoretical modeling of baryon production is not straightforward and relies in part on phenomenological models in Monte Carlo event generators. In this work, we assess the impact of QCD uncertainties on the spectra of antiprotons from dark-matter annihilation. As a proof-of-principle, we show that for a two-parameter model that depends only on the thermally-averaged annihilation cross section (〈σv〉) and the dark-matter mass (Mχ ), QCD uncertainties can affect the best-fit mass by up to ∼ 14% (with large uncertainties for large DM masses), depending on the choice of Mχ and the annihilation channel (bb̅ or W + W -), and 〈σv〉 by up to ∼ 10%. For comparison, changes to the underlying diffusion parameters are found to be within 1%–5%, and the results are also quite resilient to the choice of cosmic-ray propagation model. These findings indicate that QCD uncertainties need to be included in future DM analyses. To facilitate full-fledged analyses, we provide the spectra in tabulated form including QCD uncertainties and code snippets to perform mass interpolations and quick DM fits. The code can be found in this GitHub [1] repository.

Annihilation of singlet fermionic dark matter into two photons via pseudo-scalar mediator

We consider the indirect detection of dark matter within an extension of the standard model (SM) including a singlet fermion as cold dark matter (CDM) and a singlet pseudo-scalar as a mediator between dark matter and the SM particles. The annihilation cross-section of the CDM into two monochromatic photons is calculated and compared with the latest H.E.S.S. data. Although for dark matter masses below 1 TeV the predicted observable cross-sections are far from the sensitivity of the recent gamma-ray experiments, it can be comparable to the strongest H.E.S.S. upper bounds for some models with more massive CDM.

MeV gamma-ray constraints for light dark matter from semi-annihilation

Exploring the realm of Dark Matter research, Light DM, which has a mass in the range of 1 MeV to 1 GeV, is a fascinating topic both theoretically and experimentally. We assume that the light dark matter is composed of complex scalars and produced from semi-annihilation, which is close to the scale of the MeV Gamma-ray satellite, allowing us to explore the implications of this hypothesis. The experimental data we used to constrain the scenario is from five different sources: the COMPTEL, EGRET, INTEGRAL, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and the e-ASTROGAM future reach. We use the analytical formula to measure the X-ray spectra allowing us to determine the annihilation cross-section bounds from 10−28cm3/s to 10−22cm3/s for different combinations of dark matter and mediator masses. We found that the MeV gamma-ray provides valuable insight into the structure of the semi-annihilation dark matter, where EGRET contributes to the stringent constraint to the semi-annihilation, and the e-ASTROGAM future reach could probe the whole parameter space of the model.

Searching for TeV Dark Matter in Irregular Dwarf Galaxies with HAWC Observatory

We present the results of dark matter (DM) searches in a sample of 31 dwarf irregular (dIrr) galaxies within the field of view of the HAWC Observatory. dIrr galaxies are DM-dominated objects in which astrophysical gamma-ray emission is estimated to be negligible with respect to the secondary gamma-ray flux expected by annihilation or decay of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). While we do not see any statistically significant DM signal in dIrr galaxies, we present the exclusion limits (95% C.L.) for annihilation cross section and decay lifetime for WIMP candidates with masses between 1 and 100 TeV. Exclusion limits from dIrr galaxies are relevant and complementary to benchmark dwarf Spheroidal (dSph) galaxies. In fact, dIrr galaxies are targets kinematically different from benchmark dSph, preserving the footprints of different evolution histories. We compare the limits from dIrr galaxies to those from ultrafaint and classical dSph galaxies previously observed with HAWC. We find that the constraints are comparable to the limits from classical dSph galaxies and ∼2 orders of magnitude weaker than the ultrafaint dSph limits.

Search for Ultraheavy Dark Matter from Observations of Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies with VERITAS

Dark matter is a key piece of the current cosmological scenario, with weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) a leading dark matter candidate. WIMPs have not been detected in their conventional parameter space (100 GeV ≲M χ ≲ 100 TeV), a mass range accessible with current Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes. As ultraheavy dark matter (UHDM; M χ ≳ 100 TeV) has been suggested as an underexplored alternative to the WIMP paradigm, we search for an indirect dark matter annihilation signal in a higher mass range (up to 30 PeV) with the VERITAS γ-ray observatory. With 216 hr of observations of four dwarf spheroidal galaxies, we perform an unbinned likelihood analysis. We find no evidence of a γ-ray signal from UHDM annihilation above the background fluctuation for any individual dwarf galaxy nor for a joint-fit analysis, and consequently constrain the velocity-weighted annihilation cross section of UHDM for dark matter particle masses between 1 TeV and 30 PeV. We additionally set constraints on the allowed radius of a composite UHDM particle.

Rearrangement Collisions in the Schwinger Variational Principle: A Long-Standing Problem in Positron Scattering Physics.

In this letter, we propose a functional on the basis of the Schwinger variational principle that accounts for the particle rearrangement by solving a projected Lippmann-Schwinger equation system. The method is tested in the static-coupled approximation for positron-H, where excellent agreements with benchmark results are found for the elastic, positronium (Ps) formation and annihilation cross sections. The effect of virtual Ps formation is evidenced through the analysis of the annihilation map. A significant increase in the electron-positron density in the vicinity of the atom is obtained.

Sommerfeld enhancement of resonant dark matter annihilation

The dark matter annihilation cross section can be amplified by orders of magnitude if the annihilation occurs into a narrow resonance, or if the dark-matter particles experience a long-range force before annihilation (Sommerfeld effect). We show that when both enhancements are present they factorize completely, that is, all long-distance non-factorizable effects cancel at leading order in the small-velocity and narrow-width expansion. We then investigate the viability of “super-resonant” annihilation from the coaction of both mechanisms in Standard Model Higgs portal and simplified MSSM-inspired dark-matter scenarios.

Search for Gamma-Ray Spectral Lines from Dark Matter Annihilation up to 100 TeV toward the Galactic Center with MAGIC

Linelike features in TeV γ rays constitute a "smoking gun" for TeV-scale particle dark matter and new physics. Probing the Galactic Center region with ground-based Cherenkov telescopes enables the search for TeV spectral features in immediate association with a dense dark matter reservoir at a sensitivity out of reach for satellite γ-ray detectors, and direct detection and collider experiments. We report on 223hours of observations of the Galactic Center region with the MAGIC stereoscopic telescope system reaching γ-ray energies up to 100TeV. We improved the sensitivity to spectral lines at high energies using large-zenith-angle observations and a novel background modeling method within a maximum-likelihood analysis in the energy domain. No linelike spectral feature is found in our analysis. Therefore, we constrain the cross section for dark matter annihilation into two photons to ⟨σv⟩≲5×10^{-28} cm^{3} s^{-1} at 1TeV and ⟨σv⟩≲1×10^{-25} cm^{3} s^{-1} at 100TeV, achieving the best limits to date for a dark matter mass above 20TeV and a cuspy dark matter profile at the Galactic Center. Finally, we use the derived limits for both cuspy and cored dark matter profiles to constrain supersymmetric wino models.

Analytical insight into dark matter subhalo boost factors for Sommerfeld-enhanced s- and p-wave γ-ray signals

As searches for thermal and self-annihilating dark matter (DM) intensify, it becomes crucial to include as many relevant physical processes and ingredients as possible to refine signal predictions, in particular those which directly relate to the intimate properties of DM. We investigate the combined impact of DM subhalos and of the (velocity-dependent) Sommerfeld enhancement of the annihilation cross section. Both features are expected to play an important role in searches for thermal DM particle candidates with masses around or beyond TeV, or in scenarios with a light dark sector. We provide a detailed analytical description of the phenomena at play, and show how they scale with the subhalo masses and the main Sommerfeld parameters. We derive approximate analytical expressions that can be used to estimate the overall boost factors resulting from these combined effects, from which the intricate phenomenology can be better understood. DM subhalos lead to an increase of the Sommerfeld effect by several orders of magnitude (for both s- and p-wave annihilation processes), especially on resonances, which makes them critical to get sensible gamma-ray signal predictions for typical targets of different masses (from dwarf galaxies to galaxy clusters).

Cross-section measurement of two-photon in-flight annihilation of positrons at s=20 MeV with the PADME detector

A measurement of the inclusive cross section of in-flight electron-positron annihilation to photons, e+e−→γγ, is presented using the PADME detector at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati. A beam of 430 MeV positrons, corresponding to a center-of-mass energy of 20 MeV, strikes a thin diamond target. The two photons produced in the interaction are detected by an electromagnetic calorimeter made of BGO crystals. The measurement is the first based on direct detection of the photon pair and one of the most precise for positron energies below 1 GeV. It represents an intermediate step in the ultimate PADME goal of searching for dark sector particles and mediators weakly coupled to photons and electrons, with masses ranging from 1 to 20 MeV. The final value, σe+e−→γγ=(1.977±0.018(stat)±0.119(syst)) mb, agrees with next-to-leading-order QED predictions within the 6% experimental uncertainty.6 MoreReceived 8 November 2022Accepted 20 December 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.107.012008Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasParticle interactionsGeneral PhysicsParticles & Fields

Revisiting GeV-scale annihilating dark matter with the AMS-02 positron fraction

Antimatter cosmic-rays are used to probe new phenomena in physics, including dark matter annihilation. We use the cosmic-ray positron fraction spectrum by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, to search for such an annihilation signal in the Galaxy. We focus on dark matter with mass between 5 and 120 GeV, producing high-energy electrons and positrons. In these cosmic-ray energies the interplay of multiple astrophysical sources and phenomena, makes this search highly sensitive to the underlying astrophysical background assumptions. We use a vast public library of astrophysical models for the cosmic-ray positron fraction background, to derive robust upper limits on the dark matter's annihilation cross section for a number of annihilation channels. This library accounts for different types of cosmic-ray sources and uncertainties on their distribution in space and time. Also, it accounts for uncertainties on those sources' output, their injected into the interstellar medium cosmic-ray spectra and for uncertainties on cosmic-ray propagation. For any given dark matter particle mass and annihilation channel, upper limits on the annihilation cross section are given by bands that stretch a full order of magnitude in its value. Our work provides weaker limits compared to earlier results, that are however robust to all the relevant astrophysical uncertainties. Between 5 and 15 GeV, we find indications for a possible excess flux of cosmic-ray electrons and positrons. That excess is found for most, but not all of our astrophysical background parameter space, and its significance can vary appreciably. Further scrutiny is necessary to improve the understanding of these lower energy cosmic rays. Finally, we note that even if an excess signal is found in these energies, the current background uncertainties do not allow us to accurately deduce its underlying particle properties.

Radiative corrections to stop-antistop annihilation into gluons and light quarks

We present the full one-loop supersymmetry-QCD corrections to stop-antistop annihilation into gluons and light quarks within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model including Sommerfeld enhancement effects from the exchange of multiple gluons between the incoming particles. These corrections are important as stop (co)annihilation becomes the dominant contribution to the relic density for scenarios with a small mass difference between the neutralino and the stop which are less constrained by current LHC searches and consistent with the observation of a 125 GeV SM-like Higgs boson. We discuss important technical details of our one-loop, real emission, and resummation calculations where we pay particular attention to the cancellation of infrared divergences and the associated application of the dipole formalism for massive initial scalars. The corrections have been implemented in the dark matter precision tool dm@nlo which allows us to study numerically the impact of these corrections on the annihilation cross section. We find that for the chosen reference scenario the dominant correction comes from the Sommerfeld effect and that the pure NLO correction is below 3%. The inclusion of these radiative corrections is still large enough to decrease the relic density by more than 10% and shift the cosmologically preferred parameter region by a few GeV relative to the standard micromegas result. Therefore, the inclusion of these corrections is mandatory if the experimental errors are taken as upper and lower bounds of the theory value.

WIMPs during reheating

Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are among the best-motivated dark matter candidates. In the standard scenario where the freeze-out happens well after the end of inflationary reheating, they are in tension with the severe experimental constraints. Here, we investigate the thermal freeze-out of WIMPs occurring during reheating, while the inflaton ϕ coherently oscillates in a generic potential ∝ ϕn . Depending on the value of n and the spin of the inflaton decaying products, the evolution of the radiation and inflaton energy densities can show distinct features, therefore, having a considerable impact on the freeze-out behavior of WIMPs. As a result of the injection of entropy during reheating, the parameter space compatible with the observed DM relic abundance is enlarged. In particular, the WIMP thermally averaged annihilation cross-section can be several magnitudes lower than that in the standard case. Finally, we discuss the current bounds from dark matter indirect detection experiments, and explore future challenges and opportunities.

Constraints on dark matter annihilation and decay from the large-scale structure of the nearby Universe

Decaying or annihilating dark matter particles could be detected through gamma-ray emission from the species they decay or annihilate into. This is usually done by modelling the flux from specific dark matter-rich objects such as the Milky Way halo, Local Group dwarfs, and nearby groups. However, these objects are expected to have significant emission from baryonic processes as well, and the analyses discard gamma-ray data over most of the sky. Here we construct full-sky templates for gamma-ray flux from the large-scale structure within $\sim$200 Mpc by means of a suite of constrained $N$-body simulations (CSiBORG) produced using the Bayesian Origin Reconstruction from Galaxies algorithm. Marginalising over uncertainties in this reconstruction, small-scale structure, and parameters describing astrophysical contributions to the observed gamma-ray sky, we compare to observations from the Fermi Large Area Telescope to constrain dark matter annihilation cross sections and decay rates through a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis. We rule out the thermal relic cross section for $s$-wave annihilation for all $m_\chi \lesssim 7 {\rm \, GeV}/c^2$ at 95\% confidence if the annihilation produces gluons or quarks less massive than the bottom quark. We infer a contribution to the gamma-ray sky with the same spatial distribution as dark matter decay at $3.3\sigma$. Although this could be due to dark matter decay via these channels with a decay rate $\Gamma \approx 6 \times 10^{-28} {\rm \, s^{-1}}$, we find that a power-law spectrum of index $p=-2.75^{+0.71}_{-0.46}$, likely of baryonic origin, is preferred by the data.

How do the dynamics of the Milky Way–Large Magellanic Cloud system affect gamma-ray constraints on particle dark matter?

ABSTRACT Previous studies on astrophysical dark matter (DM) constraints have all assumed that the Milky Way’s (MW) DM halo can be modelled in isolation. However, recent work suggests that the MW’s largest dwarf satellite, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), has a mass of 10–20${{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ that of the MW and is currently merging with our Galaxy. As a result, the DM haloes of the MW and LMC are expected to be strongly deformed. We here address and quantify the impact of the dynamical response caused by the passage of the LMC through the MW on the prospects for indirect DM searches. Utilizing a set of state-of-the-art numerical simulations of the evolution of the MW–LMC system, we derive the DM distribution in both galaxies at the present time based on the basis function expansion formalism. Consequently, we build $\mathcal {J}$-factor all-sky maps of the MW–LMC system to study the impact of the LMC passage on gamma-ray indirect searches for thermally produced DM annihilating in the outer MW halo as well as within the LMC halo stand-alone. We conduct a detailed analysis of 12 yr of the Fermi Large Area Telescope data that incorporates various large-scale gamma-ray emission components and we quantify the systematic uncertainty associated with the imperfect knowledge of the astrophysical gamma-ray sources. We find that the dynamical response caused by the LMC passage can alter the constraints on the velocity-averaged annihilation cross-section for weak-scale particle DM at a level comparable to the existing observational uncertainty of the MW halo’s density profile and total mass.