Pre-launch estimates for GLAST sensitivity to Dark Matter annihilation signals

Abstract

We investigate the sensitivity of the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) to indirectly detect weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) through the $\gamma$-ray signal that their pair annihilation produces. WIMPs are among the favorite candidates to explain the compelling evidence that about 80% of the mass in the Universe is non-baryonic dark matter (DM). They are serendipitously motivated by various extensions of the standard model of particle physics such as Supersymmetry and Universal Extra Dimensions (UED). With its unprecedented sensitivity and its very large energy range (20 MeV to more than 300 GeV) the main instrument on board the GLAST satellite, the Large Area Telescope (LAT), will open a new window of discovery. As our estimates show, the LAT will be able to detect an indirect DM signature for a large class of WIMP models given a cuspy profile for the DM distribution. Using the current state of the art Monte Carlo and event reconstruction software developed within the LAT collaboration, we present preliminary sensitivity studies for several possible sources inside and outside the Galaxy. We also discuss the potential of the LAT to detect UED via the electron/positron channel. Diffuse background modeling and other background issues that will be important in setting limits or seeing a signal are presented.

49 pages, 29 figures, JCAP in press

References in corpus (5)

• Dark Matter and Collider Phenomenology of Universal Extra Dimensions
• Significant Gamma Lines from Inert Higgs Dark Matter
• TeV gamma-rays and the largest masses and annihilation cross sections of neutralino dark matter
• The Anti-Coincidence Detector for the GLAST Large Area Telescope
• Digging for the Truth: Photon Archeology with GLAST

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• Bounds on Cross-sections and Lifetimes for Dark Matter Annihilation and Decay into Charged Leptons from Gamma-ray Observations of Dwarf Galaxies
• Reconciliation of CDM abundance and $\mu \to e\gamma$ in a radiative seesaw model
• Gamma rays from the annihilation of singlet scalar dark matter
• Conservative Constraints on Dark Matter Annihilation into Gamma Rays
• Dark matter and pulsar signals for Fermi LAT, PAMELA, ATIC, HESS and WMAP data
• Gamma Rays from Clusters and Groups of Galaxies: Cosmic Rays versus Dark Matter
• The WIMP Forest: Indirect Detection of a Chiral Square
• The Gamma-Ray-Flux Probability Distribution Function from Galactic Halo Substructure
• Substructure Boosts to Dark Matter Annihilation from Sommerfeld Enhancement
• Diffuse gamma-ray background and cosmic-ray positrons from annihilating dark matter