The Effective Hooperon

Abstract

We explore the possibility of explaining a gamma-ray excess in the Galactic Center, originally pointed out by Hooper, collaborators, and other groups, in an effective field theory framework. We assume that dark matter annihilation is mediated by particles heavy enough to be integrated out, and that such particles couple to all quark families. We calculate the effective coupling required to explain the annihilation signal in the Galactic Center, and compare with bounds from direct detection, collider searches, and the requirement that the dark matter particle make up the appropriate fraction of the universal energy budget. We find that only a very small set of operators can explain the gamma-ray excess while being consistent with other constraints. Specifically, for scalar dark matter the viable options are one scalar-type coupling to quarks and one interaction with gluons, while for fermionic (Dirac) dark matter the viable options are two scalar-type dimension-7 operators or a dimension-6 vector-type operator. In all cases, future searches with the Large Hadron Collider should probe the relevant operators' effective energy scale, while all viable interactions should escape direct detection experiments.

13 pages, 2 Figures. Published in Phys. Rev. D with the Title:Effective field theory approach to the Galactic Center gamma-ray excess

References in corpus (6)

• Constraints on Dark Matter from Colliders
• The Tevatron at the Frontier of Dark Matter Direct Detection
• LEP Shines Light on Dark Matter
• Simplified Dark Matter Models for the Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess
• Gamma Ray Line Constraints on Effective Theories of Dark Matter
• Next-to-Leading Order Predictions for Dark Matter Production at Hadron Colliders

Cited by in corpus (24)

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• A taste of dark matter: Flavour constraints on pseudoscalar mediators
• Hidden On-Shell Mediators for the Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess
• WIMPs at the Galactic Center
• Higgs portal vector dark matter for $\mathrm{GeV}$ scale $\gamma$-ray excess from galactic center
• Updated cosmic-ray and radio constraints on light dark matter: Implications for the GeV gamma-ray excess at the Galactic center
• Connecting Dark Matter UV Complete Models to Direct Detection Rates via Effective Field Theory
• Multi-Step Cascade Annihilations of Dark Matter and the Galactic Center Excess
• Galactic center $\gamma$-ray excess in hidden sector DM models with dark gauge symmetries: local $Z_3$ symmetry as an example
• Antiproton constraints on the GeV gamma-ray excess: a comprehensive analysis
• Z' Mediated Dark Matter Models for the Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess
• Nonthermal Two Component Dark Matter Model for Fermi-LAT $\gamma$-ray excess and 3.55 keV X-ray Line
• Towards a Supersymmetric Description of the Fermi Galactic Center Excess
• Galactic Centre GeV Photons from Dark Technicolor
• Annihilating Asymmetric Dark Matter
• SUSY Implications from WIMP Annihilation into Scalars at the Galactic Centre
• NMSSM explanations of the Galactic center gamma ray excess and promising LHC searches
• The interpretation for Galactic Center Excess and Electroweak Phase Transition in the NMSSM
• Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess through a Dark Shower
• Confronting the Galactic Center Gamma Ray Excess With a Light Scalar Dark Matter
• Searches for dark matter signals in simplified models at future hadron colliders
• Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment in a $SU(4)\otimes U(1{)}_N$ Model
• Interpreting the galactic center gamma-ray excess in the NMSSM
• Low Energy Gamma Ray Excess Confronting a Singlet Scalar Extended Inert Doublet Dark Matter Model