Sensitivity projections for dark matter searches with the Fermi large area telescope

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dc.contributor.authorCharles, E.
dc.contributor.authorSánchez-Conde, M.
dc.contributor.authorAnderson, B.
dc.contributor.authorCaputo, R.
dc.contributor.authorCuoco, A.
dc.contributor.authorMauro, M. Di
dc.contributor.authorDrlica-Wagner, A.
dc.contributor.authorGomez-Vargas, G.A.
dc.contributor.authorMeyer, M.
dc.contributor.authorTibaldo, L.
dc.contributor.authorWood, M.
dc.contributor.authorZaharijas, G.
dc.contributor.authorZimmer, S.
dc.contributor.authorAjello, M.
dc.contributor.authorAlbert, A.
dc.contributor.authorBaldini, L.
dc.contributor.authorBechtol, K.
dc.contributor.authorBloom, E.D.
dc.contributor.authorCeraudo, F.
dc.contributor.authorCohen-Tanugi, J.
dc.contributor.authorDigel, S.W.
dc.contributor.authorGaskins, J.
dc.contributor.authorGustafsson, M.
dc.contributor.authorMirabal, N.
dc.contributor.authorRazzano, M.
dc.date.accessioned2020-09-01T15:56:49Z
dc.date.available2020-09-01T15:56:49Z
dc.date.issued2016-05-20
dc.description.abstractThe nature of dark matter is a longstanding enigma of physics; it may consist of particles beyond the Standard Model that are still elusive to experiments. Among indirect search techniques, which look for stable products from the annihilation or decay of dark matter particles, or from axions coupling to high-energy photons, observations of the 𝛾-ray sky have come to prominence over the last few years, because of the excellent sensitivity of the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission. The LAT energy range from 20 meV to above 300 GeV is particularly well suited for searching for products of the interactions of dark matter particles. In this report we describe methods used to search for evidence of dark matter with the LAT, and review the status of searches performed with up to six years of LAT data. We also discuss the factors that determine the sensitivities of these searches, including the magnitudes of the signals and the relevant backgrounds, considering both statistical and systematic uncertainties. We project the expected sensitivities of each search method for 10 and 15 years of LAT data taking. In particular, we find that the sensitivity of searches targeting dwarf galaxies, which provide the best limits currently, will improve faster than the square root of observing time. Current LAT limits for dwarf galaxies using six years of data reach the thermal relic level for masses up to 120 GeV for the bb annihilation channel for reasonable dark matter density profiles. With projected discoveries of additional dwarfs, these limits could extend to about 250 GeV. With as much as 15 years of LAT data these searches would be sensitive to dark matter annihilations at the thermal relic cross section for masses to greater than 400 GeV (200 GeV) bb¯(τ +τ−) in the annihilation channels.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThe Fermi LAT Collaboration acknowledges generous ongoing support from a number of agencies and institutes that have supported both the development and the operation of the LAT as well as scientific data analysis. These include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Energy in the United States, the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules in France, the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare in Italy, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in Japan, and the K.A. Wallenberg Foundation, the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish National Space Board in Sweden. Additional support for science analysis during the operations phase is gratefully acknowledged from the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica in Italy and the Centre National d’Études Spatiales in France. Brandon Anderson and Manuel Meyer have been supported by a grant of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation, PI : Jan Conrad. Miguel Sánchez-Cond is a Wenner-Gren Fellow and acknowledges the support of the Wenner-Gren Foundations to develop his research. Massimiliano Razzano was funded by contract FIRB-2012-RBFR12PM1F from the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR). We thank Daniel Hooper and Bridget Bertoni for useful discussions about projecting the sensitivity for searches targeting potential dark satellites among the LAT unassociated sources. We thank Leslie Rosenberg and Gray Rybka for providing the contours from the ADMX axion search used in preparing Fig. 26. We thank Tim Tait and William Shepherd for their discussions on dark matter complementarity with direct-detection experiments and collider searches. We thank David Williams and Emmanuel Moulin for discussions on the CTA sensitivity and for providing data used in Fig. 28. Finally, we thank Francesca Calore and Matthieu Schaller for preparing Fig. 12 based on Fig. 4 in [160].en_US
dc.description.urihttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0370157316300916en_US
dc.format.extent46 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m2u6ch-yyoj
dc.identifier.citationE.Charles et al., Sensitivity projections for dark matter searches with the Fermi large area telescope, Physics Reports Volume 636, Pages 1-46 (2016), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physrep.2016.05.001en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.physrep.2016.05.001
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/19551
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherElsevieren_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Physics Department Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Center for Space Sciences and Technology (CSST)/Center for Research and Exploration in Space Sciences and Technology II (CREST II)
dc.rightsThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
dc.rightsPublic Domain Mark 1.0*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/*
dc.rights.uriThis work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law
dc.titleSensitivity projections for dark matter searches with the Fermi large area telescopeen_US
dc.typeTexten_US

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