Search for gamma-ray emission from $p$-wave dark matter annihilation in the Galactic Center

Abstract

Indirect searches for dark matter through Standard Model products of its annihilation generally assume a cross-section which is dominated by a term independent of velocity ($s$-wave annihilation). However, in many DM models an $s$-wave annihilation cross-section is absent or helicity suppressed. To reproduce the correct DM relic density in these models, the leading term in the cross section is proportional to the DM velocity squared ($p$-wave annihilation). Indirect detection of such $p$-wave DM is difficult because the average velocities of DM in galaxies today are orders of magnitude slower than the DM velocity at the time of decoupling from the primordial thermal plasma, suppressing the annihilation cross-section today by some five orders of magnitude relative to its value at freeze out. Thus $p$-wave DM is out of reach of traditional searches for DM annihilations in the Galactic halo. Near the region of influence of a central supermassive black hole, such as Sgr A${}^{\ast }$, however, DM can form a localized over-density known as a `spike'. In such spikes the DM is predicted to be both concentrated in space and accelerated to higher velocities, allowing the $\gamma$-ray signature from its annihilation to potentially be detectable above the background. We use the $Fermi$ Large Area Telescope to search for the $\gamma$-ray signature of $p$-wave annihilating DM from a spike around Sgr A${}^{\ast }$ in the energy range 10 GeV-600 GeV. Such a signal would appear as a point source and would have a sharp line or box-like spectral features difficult to mimic with standard astrophysical processes, indicating a DM origin. We find no significant excess of $\gamma$ rays in this range, and we place upper limits on the flux in $\gamma$-ray boxes originating from the Galactic Center. This result, the first of its kind, is interpreted in the context of different models of the DM density near Sgr A${}^{\ast }$.

16 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (19)

• Secluded WIMP Dark Matter
• Precise Relic WIMP Abundance and its Impact on Searches for Dark Matter Annihilation
• Searching for Dark Matter Annihilation in Recently Discovered Milky Way Satellites with Fermi-LAT
• On the local dark matter density
• Significant Gamma Lines from Inert Higgs Dark Matter
• Baryonic Pinching of Galactic Dark Matter Halos
• Singlet fermionic dark matter
• Dark matter constraints from box-shaped gamma-ray features
• The minimal model of fermionic dark matter
• Multi-wavelength signals of dark matter annihilations at the Galactic center
• Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess from Dark Matter Annihilation: Is There A Black Hole Spike?
• What Does The PAMELA Antiproton Spectrum Tell Us About Dark Matter?
• Collisionally Regenerated Dark Matter Structures in Galactic Nuclei
• Two Lines or Not Two Lines? That is the Question of Gamma Ray Spectra
• Dark matter annihilation near a black hole: plateau vs. weak cusp
• Indirect Detection of Little Higgs Dark Matter
• New gamma ray signal from gravitationally boosted neutralinos at the galactic center
• Enhanced Line Signals from Annihilating Kaluza-Klein Dark Matter
• Relativistic dark matter at the Galactic center

Cited by in corpus (26)

• Status, Challenges and Directions in Indirect Dark Matter Searches
• Effective $J$-factors for Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies with velocity-dependent annihilation
• Amplified J-factors in the Galactic Center for velocity-dependent darkmatter annihilation in FIRE simulations
• Search for Gamma-ray Spectral Lines from Dark Matter Annihilation up to 100 TeV towards the Galactic Center with MAGIC
• Velocity-dependent J-factors for annihilation radiation from cosmological simulations
• Toward the ultimate reach of current imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and their sensitivity to TeV dark matter
• The CMSSM Survives Planck, the LHC, LUX-ZEPLIN, Fermi-LAT, H.E.S.S. and IceCube
• Constraints on dark matter annihilation and decay from the large-scale structure of the nearby universe
• Primordial black hole dark matter in the presence of p-wave WIMP annihilation
• Search for gamma-ray line signals around the black hole at the galactic center with DAMPE observation
• Faint Dark Matter Annihilation Signals and the Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole
• Searching Accretion-Enhanced Dark Matter Annihilation Signals in the Galactic Centre
• Equilibrium axisymmetric halo model for the Milky Way and its implications for direct and indirect DM searches
• Sterile neutrino dark matter: relativistic freeze-out
• Radio bounds on the mixed dark matter scenarios of primordial black holes and WIMPs
• Classification of gamma-ray targets for velocity-dependent and subhalo-boosted dark-matter annihilation
• TeV gamma-ray sensitivity to velocity-dependent dark matter models in the Galactic Center
• Constraining $p$-wave Dark Matter Annihilation with Gamma-ray Observations of M87
• Dark Matter Annihilation via Breit-Wigner Enhancement with Heavier Mediator
• The Velocity-Dependent $J$-factor of the Milky Way Halo: Does What Happens in the Galactic Bulge Stay in the Galactic Bulge?
• Contribution of dark matter annihilation to gamma-ray burst afterglows near massive galaxy centers
• Optimal observing strategies for velocity-suppressed dark matter annihilation
• Testing the predictions of axisymmetric distribution functions of galactic dark matter with hydrodynamical simulations
• Noble gravitational atoms: Self-gravitating black hole scalar wigs with angular momentum number
• Dark Matter Energy Deposition and Production from the Table-Top to the Cosmos
• Analysis of shape and angular orientation parameters of velocity-dependent dark matter annihilation signals in Galactic Centers for FIRE simulations