Exploring Dark Matter with Milky Way substructure

Abstract

The unambiguous detection of Galactic dark matter annihilation would unravel one of the most outstanding puzzles in particle physics and cosmology. Recent observations have motivated models in which the annihilation rate is boosted by the Sommerfeld effect, a non-perturbative enhancement arising from a long range attractive force. Here we apply the Sommerfeld correction to Via Lactea II, a high resolution N-body simulation of a Milky-Way-size galaxy, to investigate the phase-space structure of the Galactic halo. We show that the annihilation luminosity from kinematically cold substructure can be enhanced by orders of magnitude relative to previous calculations, leading to the prediction of gamma-ray fluxes from up to hundreds of dark clumps that should be detectable by the Fermi satellite.

23 pages, 9 figures (includes Supporting Online Material), accepted for publication in Science, v2: added reference, fixed typos

References in corpus (9)

• A Theory of Dark Matter
• Measurement of the Cosmic Ray e+ plus e- spectrum from 20 GeV to 1 TeV with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
• Phase-space structure in the local dark matter distribution and its signature in direct detection experiments
• The Dark Matter Annihilation Signal from Galactic Substructure: Predictions for GLAST
• Dark Matter Annihilation in Substructures Revised
• The Graininess of Dark Matter Haloes
• Fossil remnants of reionization in the halo of the Milky Way
• Substructure Boosts to Dark Matter Annihilation from Sommerfeld Enhancement
• ATIC, PAMELA, HESS, Fermi and nearby Dark Matter subhalos

Cited by in corpus (58)

• Small-Scale Challenges to the $\Lambda$CDM Paradigm
• PPPC 4 DM ID: A Poor Particle Physicist Cookbook for Dark Matter Indirect Detection
• Constraining Dark Matter Models from a Combined Analysis of Milky Way Satellites with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
• The Fermi Galactic Center GeV Excess and Implications for Dark Matter
• Not so lumpy after all: modeling the depletion of dark matter subhalos by Milky Way-like galaxies
• ELVIS: Exploring the Local Volume in Simulations
• Dark Matter Self-Interactions and Light Force Carriers
• Substructure depletion in the Milky Way halo by the disk
• Constraints on Cosmological Dark Matter Annihilation from the Fermi-LAT Isotropic Diffuse Gamma-Ray Measurement
• NIHAO XV: The environmental impact of the host galaxy on galactic satellite and field dwarf galaxies
• Phat ELVIS: The inevitable effect of the Milky Way's disk on its dark matter subhaloes
• Sensitivity Projections for Dark Matter Searches with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
• Galactic Substructure and Dark Matter Annihilation in the Milky Way Halo
• Nonabelian dark matter: models and constraints
• Gamma-ray Signal from Earth-mass Dark Matter Microhalos
• Direct Detection of Dark Matter Debris Flows
• Constraining dark matter late-time energy injection: decays and p-wave annihilations
• Relic density and CMB constraints on dark matter annihilation with Sommerfeld enhancement
• Imaging Galactic Dark Matter with High-Energy Cosmic Neutrinos
• Populations of double white dwarfs in Milky Way satellites and their detectability with LISA
• Unidentified sources in the Fermi-LAT second source catalog: the case for DM subhalos
• Indirect Dark Matter Detection Limits from the Ultra-Faint Milky Way Satellite Segue 1
• 3FGL Demographics Outside the Galactic Plane using Supervised Machine Learning: Pulsar and Dark Matter Subhalo Interpretations
• Dark matter substructure modelling and sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to Galactic dark halos
• Galactic PeV neutrinos from dark matter annihilation
• Interacting dark matter contribution to the Galactic 511 keV gamma ray emission: constraining the morphology with INTEGRAL/SPI observations
• The impact of the phase-space density on the indirect detection of dark matter
• ATIC, PAMELA, HESS, Fermi and nearby Dark Matter subhalos
• Dark matter subhaloes as gamma-ray sources and candidates in the first Fermi-LAT catalogue
• Can multistate dark matter annihilation explain the high-energy cosmic ray lepton anomalies?
• Galaxy Clusters as Reservoirs of Heavy Dark Matter and High-Energy Cosmic Rays: Constraints from Neutrino Observations
• The Dark Matter Annihilation Signal from Dwarf Galaxies and Subhalos
• Does the Milky Way Obey Spiral Galaxy Scaling Relations?
• Gamma rays and neutrinos from dark matter annihilation in galaxy clusters
• Fermi-LAT Sensitivity to Dark Matter Annihilation in Via Lactea II Substructure
• The Origin of Dark Matter Halo Profiles
• Fermi Gamma-ray Haze via Dark Matter and Millisecond Pulsars
• Entering the Era of Dark Matter Astronomy? Near to Long-Term Forecasts in X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Bands
• Searches for dark matter subhaloes with wide-field Cherenkov telescope surveys
• Sommerfeld-Enhanced Annihilation in Dark Matter Substructure: Consequences for Constraints on Cosmic-Ray Excesses
• The baryon cycle of Seven Dwarfs with superbubble feedback
• Cosmic Microwave Background Constraints on Dark Matter Models of the Galactic Center 511 keV Signal
• Gravitational Nanolensing from Subsolar Mass Dark Matter Halos
• Exploring the non-linear density field in the Millennium simulations with tessellations - I. The probability distribution function
• 3FGL J1924.8-1034 : A Spatially-Extended Stable Unidentified GeV Source?
• The Dark Knight Falters
• Overcoming Gamma Ray Constraints with Annihilating Dark Matter in Milky Way Subhalos
• Observationally inferred dark matter phase-space distribution and direct detection experiments
• Dwarf spheroidal $J$-factor likelihoods for generalized NFW profiles
• Classification of gamma-ray targets for velocity-dependent and subhalo-boosted dark-matter annihilation
• The distribution of annihilation luminosities in dark matter substructure
• Fermi Constrains Dark Matter Origin of High Energy Positron Anomaly
• EDEN: Exploring Disks Embedded in N-body simulations of Milky-Way-mass halos from Symphony
• Structure Formation Constraints on Sommerfeld-Enhanced Dark Matter Annihilation
• Numerical Simulations of the Dark Universe: State of the Art and the Next Decade
• The Dark Matter Contribution to Galactic Diffuse Gamma Ray Emission
• Constraining Dark Matter Neutrino Interaction with High Energy Neutrinos
• Uncertainties in measuring the dark matter signal from Milky Way satellites using Cherenkov telescopes