Gamma-ray Spectral Features Research Articles

Correlations Between Panoramic Imagery and Gamma-Ray Background in an Urban Area

When searching for radiological sources in an urban area, a vehicle-borne detector system will often measure complex, varying backgrounds primarily from natural gamma-ray sources. Much work has been focused on developing spectral algorithms that retain sensitivity and minimize the false-positive rate even in the presence of such spectral and temporal variability. However, information about the environment surrounding the detector system might also provide useful clues about the expected background, which if incorporated into an algorithm, could improve performance. Recent work has focused on extensive measuring and modeling of urban areas with the goal of understanding how these complex backgrounds arise. This work presents an analysis of panoramic video images and gamma-ray background data collected in Oakland, California, by the radiological multisensor analysis platform (RadMAP) vehicle. Features were extracted from the panoramic images by semantically labeling the images and then convolving the labeled regions with the detector response. A linear model was used to relate the image-derived features to gamma-ray spectral features obtained using nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) under different regularizations. We find some gamma-ray background features correlate strongly with image-derived features that measure the response-adjusted solid angle subtended by sky and buildings, and we discuss the implications for the development of future, contextually aware detection algorithms.

Gamma-ray triangles: A possible signature of asymmetric dark matter in indirect searches

We introduce a new type of gamma-ray spectral feature, which we denominate gamma-ray triangle. This spectral feature arises in scenarios where dark matter self-annihilates via a chiral interaction into two Dirac fermions, which subsequently decay in flight into another fermion and a photon. The resulting photon spectrum resembles a sharp triangle and can be readily searched for in the gamma-ray sky. Using data from the Fermi-LAT and H.E.S.S. instruments, we find no evidence for such spectral feature and therefore set strong upper bounds on the corresponding annihilation cross section. A concrete realization of a scenario yielding gamma-ray triangles consists of an asymmetric dark matter model where the dark matter particle carries lepton number. We show explicitly that this class of models can lead to intense gamma-ray spectral features, potentially at the reach of upcoming gamma-ray telescopes, opening a new window to explore asymmetric dark matter through indirect searches.

Indirect searches of dark matter via polynomial spectral features

We derive the spectra arising from non-relativistic dark matter annihilations or decays into intermediary particles with arbitrary spin, which subsequently produce neutrinos or photons via two-body decays. Our approach is model independent and predicts spectral features restricted to a kinematic box. The overall shape within that box is a polynomial determined by the polarization of the decaying particle. We illustrate our findings with two examples. First, with the neutrino spectra arising from dark matter annihilations into the massive Standard Model gauge bosons. Second, with the gamma-ray and neutrino spectra generated by dark matter annihilations into hypothetical massive spin-2 particles. Our results are in particular applicable to the 750 GeV diphoton excess observed at the LHC if interpreted as a spin-0 or spin-2 particle coupled to dark matter. We also derive limits on the dark matter annihilation cross section into this resonance from the non-observation of the associated gamma-ray spectral features by the H.E.S.S. telescope.

Enhanced lines and box-shaped features in the gamma-ray spectrum from annihilating dark matter in the NMSSM

We study spectral features in the gamma-ray emission from dark matter (DM) annihilation in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM), with either neutralino or right-handed (RH) sneutrino DM . We perform a series of scans over the NMSSM parameter space, compute the DM annihilation cross section into two photons and the contribution of box-shaped features, and compare them with the limits derived from the Fermi-LAT search for gamma-ray lines using the latest Pass 8 data. We implement the LHC bounds on the Higgs sector and on the masses of supersymmetric particles as well as the constraints on low-energy observables. We also consider the recent upper limits from the Fermi-LAT satellite on the continuum gamma-ray emission from dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs). We show that in the case of the RH sneutrino the constraint on gamma-ray spectral features can be more stringent than the dSph bounds. This is due to the Breit-Wigner enhancement near the ubiquitous resonances with a CP even Higgs and the contribution of scalar and pseudoscalar Higgs final states to box-shaped features. By contrast, for neutralino DM, the di-photon final state is only enhanced in the resonance with a Z boson and box-shaped features are even more suppressed. Therefore, the observation of spectral features could constitute a discriminating factor between both models. In addition, we compare our results with direct DM searches, including the SuperCDMS and LUX limits on the elastic DM-nucleus scattering cross section and show that some of these scenarios would be accessible to next generation experiments. Thus, our findings strengthen the idea of complementarity among distinct DM search strategies.

On the sensitivity of CTA to gamma-ray boxes from multi-TeV dark matter

Collider, direct and indirect searches for dark matter have typically little or no sensitivity to weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with masses above a few TeV. This rather unexplored regime can however be probed through the search for distinctive gamma-ray spectral features produced by the annihilation of WIMPs at very high energies. Here we present a dedicated search for gamma-ray boxes—sharp spectral features that cannot be mimicked by astrophysical sources—with the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Using realistic projections for the instrument performance and detailed background modelling, a profile likelihood analysis is implemented to derive the expected upper limits and sensitivity reach after 100 h of observations towards a 2°×2° region around the Galactic centre. Our results show that CTA will be able to probe gamma-ray boxes down to annihilation cross sections of 10−27−10−26 cm3/s up to tens of TeV. We also identify a number of concrete particle physics models providing thermal dark matter candidates that can be used as target benchmarks in future search campaigns. This constitutes a golden opportunity for CTA to either discover or rule out multi-TeV thermal dark matter in a corner of parameter space where all other experimental efforts are basically insensitive.

Fits to the Fermi-LAT GeV excess with right-handed sneutrino dark matter: Implications for direct and indirect dark matter searches and the LHC

We show that the right-handed (RH) sneutrino in the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model can account for the observed excess in the Fermi-LAT spectrum of gamma rays from the Galactic center, while fulfilling all the current experimental constraints from the LHC as well as from direct and indirect dark matter searches. We have explored the parameter space of this scenario, computed the gamma-ray spectrum for each phenomenologically viable solution and then performed a ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{2}$ fit to the excess. Unlike previous studies based on model-independent interpretations, we have taken into account the full annihilation spectrum, without assuming pure annihilation channels. Furthermore, we have incorporated limits from direct detection experiments, LHC bounds and also the constraints from Fermi-LAT on dwarf spheroidal galaxies and gamma-ray spectral lines. In addition, we have estimated the effect of the most recent Fermi-LAT reprocessed data (pass 8). In general, we obtain good fits to the Galactic center excess (GCE) when the RH sneutrino annihilates mainly into pairs of light singletlike scalar or pseudoscalar Higgs bosons that subsequently decay in flight, producing four-body final states and spectral features that improve the goodness of the fit at large energies. The best fit (${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{2}=20.8$) corresponds to a RH sneutrino with a mass of 64 GeV which annihilates preferentially into a pair of light singletlike pseudoscalar Higgs bosons (with masses of order 60 GeV). Besides, we have analyzed other channels that also provide good fits to the excess. Finally, we discuss the implications for direct and indirect detection searches paying special attention to the possible appearance of gamma-ray spectral features in near future Fermi-LAT analyses, as well as deviations from the Standard Model--like Higgs properties at the LHC. Remarkably, many of the scenarios that fit the GCE can also be probed by these other complementary techniques.

Signatures of the Inert Doublet Dark Matter Model

The inert Doublet Model is an extension of the Standard Model by one extra scalar, with identical gauge quantum numbers as the Standard Model Higgs doublet but charged under an unbroken discrete symmetry. The model offers a very rich phenomenology and could lead to signatures in electroweak precision observables or collider experiments. Furthermore, the lightest particle of the extended scalar sector is a dark matter candidate. In this talk we review the dark matter phenomenology of the model, concretely the dark matter thermal production, the direct detection signals and the indirect detection signals, with emphasis on the generation of sharp gamma-ray spectral features via internal bremsstrahlung and via one-loop effects.

Sharp gamma-ray spectral features from scalar dark matter annihilations

The search for sharp features in the gamma-ray spectrum is a promising approach to identify a signal from dark matter annihilations over the astrophysical backgrounds. In this paper we investigate the generation of gamma-ray lines and internal bremsstrahlung signals in a toy model where the dark matter particle is a real scalar that couples to a lepton and an exotic fermion via a Yukawa coupling. We show that the Fermi-LAT and H.E.S.S. searches for line-like spectral features severely constrain regions of the parameter space where the scalar dark matter is thermally produced. Finally, we also discuss the complementarity of the searches for sharp spectral features with other indirect dark matter searches, as well as with direct and collider searches.

Bremsstrahlung and gamma ray lines in 3 scenarios of dark matter annihilation

Gamma ray spectral features are of interest for indirect searches of dark matter (DM). Following Barger et al. we consider 3 simple scenarios of DM that annihilates into Standard Model (SM) fermion pairs. Scenario 1 is a Majorana DM candidate coupled to a charged scalar, scenario 2 is a Majorana DM coupled to a charged gauge boson and scenario 3 is a real scalar DM coupled a charged vector-like fermion. As shown by Barger et al., these 3 scenarios share precisely the same internal Bremsstrahlung spectral signature into gamma rays. Their phenomenology is however distinct. In particular for annihilation into light SM fermions, in the chiral limit, the 2-body annihilation cross section is p-wave suppressed for the Majorana candidates while it is d-wave suppressed for the real scalar. In the present work we study the annihilation into 2 gammas, showing that these three scenarios have distinct, and so potentially distinguishable, spectral signatures into gamma rays. In the case of the real scalar candidate we provide a new calculation of the amplitude for annihilation into 2 gammas.

Optimized dark matter searches in deep observations of Segue 1 with MAGIC

We present the results of stereoscopic observations of the satellite galaxy Segue 1 with the MAGIC Telescopes, carried out between 2011 and 2013. With almost 160 hours of good-quality data, this is the deepest observational campaign on any dwarf galaxy performed so far in the very high energy range of the electromagnetic spectrum. We search this large data sample for signals of dark matter particles in the mass range between 100 GeV and 20 TeV. For this we use the full likelihood analysis method, which provides optimal sensitivity to characteristic gamma-ray spectral features, like those expected from dark matter annihilation or decay. In particular, we focus our search on gamma-rays produced from different final state Standard Model particles, annihilation with internal bremsstrahlung, monochromatic lines and box-shaped signals. Our results represent the most stringent constraints to the annihilation cross-section or decay lifetime obtained from observations of satellite galaxies, for masses above few hundred GeV. In particular, our strongest limit (95% confidence level) corresponds to a ∼ 500 GeV dark matter particle annihilating into τ+τ−, and is of order ⟨σannv⟩ ≃ 1.2 × 10−24 cm3 s−1 — a factor ∼ 40 above the ⟨σannv⟩ ≃ thermal value.

Scalar dark matter models with significant internal bremsstrahlung

There has been interest recently on particle physics models that may give rise to sharp gamma ray spectral features from dark matter annihilation. Because dark matter is supposed to be electrically neutral, it is challenging to build weakly interacting massive particle models that may accommodate both a large cross section into gamma rays at, say, the Galactic center, and the right dark matter abundance. In this work, we consider the gamma ray signatures of a class of scalar dark matter models that interact with Standard Model dominantly through heavy vector-like fermions (the vector-like portal). We focus on a real scalar singlet S annihilating into lepton-antilepton pairs. Because this two-body final-state annihilation channel is d-wave suppressed in the chiral limit, σff̄v∝v4, we show that virtual internal bremsstrahlung emission of a gamma ray gives a large correction, both today and at the time of freeze-out. For the sake of comparison, we confront this scenario to the familiar case of a Majorana singlet annihilating into light lepton-antilepton pairs, and show that the virtual internal bremsstrahlung signal may be enhanced by a factor of (up to) two orders of magnitude. We discuss the scope and possible generalizations of the model.

Novel gamma-ray spectral features in the inert doublet model

The inert doublet model contains a neutral stable particle which is an excellent dark matter candidate. We discuss in this paper the indirect signatures of this model in gamma-rays when the dark matter mass is larger than the W boson mass. We show that, in addition to the featureless gamma-ray spectrum produced in the annihilations into two weak gauge bosons, the model generically predicts a distinctive spectral feature from the internal bremsstrahlung process H0H0→W+W−γ. We discuss under which conditions the spectral feature is generated and we construct a number of benchmark points, compatible with the observed relic density and all other direct and indirect detection experiments, which lead to a sharp gamma-ray feature from internal bremsstrahlung.

Gamma-ray spectral features of neutron stars originating from photon splitting in a strong magnetic field

The spectral evolution of the soft (≲1 MeV) gamma-ray radiation of neutron stars in a strong magnetic field (B ≳ 6·1012 G) is analyzed. It is shown that the radiation transfer equation for the photon splitting cascade has a one-parameter set of self-similar solutions whose integral expansion is an efficient method for study of the general solution. An arbitrary initial spectrum converges quickly to a self-similar solution provided that most of the radiation energy is concentrated in the hard spectral range. We consider the possible observational consequences of the photon splitting, including the polarization and softening of the output spectrum as well as the occurrence of a spectral break and condensation of all hard-energy radiation near that break.