The viability of low-mass subhaloes as targets for gamma-ray dark matter searches

Abstract

In this work, we investigate the discovery potential of low-mass Galactic dark matter (DM) subhaloes for indirect searches of DM. We use data from the Via Lactea II (VL-II) N-body cosmological simulation, which resolves subhaloes down to $\mathcal{O}(10^4)$ solar masses and it is thus ideal for this purpose. First, we characterize the abundance, distribution and structural properties of the VL-II subhalo population in terms of both subhalo masses and maximum circular velocities. Then, we repopulate the original simulation with millions of subhaloes of masses down to about five orders of magnitude below the minimum VL-II subhalo mass (more than one order of magnitude in velocities). We compute subhalo DM annihilation astrophysical "J-factors" and angular sizes for the entire subhalo population, by placing the Earth at a random position but at the right galactocentric distance in the simulation. Thousands of these realizations are generated in order to obtain statistically meaningful results. We find that some nearby low-mass Galactic subhaloes, not massive enough to retain stars or gas, may indeed yield DM annihilation fluxes comparable to those expected from other, more massive and acknowledgeable DM targets like dwarf satellite galaxies. Typical angular sizes are of the order of the degree, thus subhaloes potentially appearing as extended sources in gamma-ray telescopes, depending on instrument angular resolution and sensitivity. Our work shows that low-mass Galactic subhaloes with no visible counterparts are expected to play a relevant role in current and future indirect DM search searches and should indeed be considered as excellent DM targets.

arXiv comment16 pages, 16 figures. Accepted in MNRAS; matches published version

References in corpus (97)

• SciPy 1.0--Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python
• The NumPy array: a structure for efficient numerical computation
• A Universal Density Profile from Hierarchical Clustering
• Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Three Year Results: Implications for Cosmology
• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
• Particle Dark Matter: Evidence, Candidates and Constraints
• Profiles of dark haloes: evolution, scatter, and environment
• Introducing the Illustris Project: Simulating the coevolution of dark and visible matter in the Universe
• The Aquarius Project: the subhalos of galactic halos
• A History of Dark Matter
• Concentrations of Dark Halos from their Assembly Histories
• Searching for Dark Matter Annihilation from Milky Way Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies with Six Years of Fermi-LAT Data
• Clumps and streams in the local dark matter distribution
• The large-scale structure of the Universe
• The statistics of LCDM Halo Concentrations
• The APOSTLE simulations: solutions to the Local Group's cosmic puzzles
• Observability of Gamma Rays from Dark Matter Neutralino Annihilations in the Milky Way Halo
• Formation and evolution of galaxy dark matter halos and their substructure
• The Auriga Project: the properties and formation mechanisms of disc galaxies across cosmic time
• Dark Matter Halos within Clusters
• Searching for Dark Matter Annihilation in Recently Discovered Milky Way Satellites with Fermi-LAT
• The Power Spectrum Dependence of Dark Matter Halo Concentrations
• Dark matter substructure and gamma-ray annihilation in the Milky Way halo
• Dark matter and cosmic structure
• Quantifying the heart of darkness with GHALO - a multi-billion particle simulation of our galactic halo
• Assembly bias in the clustering of dark matter haloes
• The Status of the H.E.S.S. Project
• VERITAS: the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System
• Not so lumpy after all: modeling the depletion of dark matter subhalos by Milky Way-like galaxies
• ELVIS: Exploring the Local Volume in Simulations
• Substructures in Cold Dark Matter Haloes
• Disruption of Dark Matter Substructure: Fact or Fiction?
• The halo mass function through the cosmic ages
• Dark Matter Substructure in Numerical Simulations: A Tale of Discreteness Noise, Runaway Instabilities, and Artificial Disruption
• The Uchuu Simulations: Data Release 1 and Dark Matter Halo Concentrations
• Halo and Subhalo Demographics with Planck Cosmological Parameters: Bolshoi-Planck and MultiDark-Planck Simulations
• Survival of Substructure within Dark Matter Haloes
• The flattening of the concentration-mass relation towards low halo masses and its implications for the annihilation signal boost
• The APOSTLE project: Local Group kinematic mass constraints and simulation candidate selection
• A "Baedecker" for the Dark Matter Annihilation Signal
• Dark Matter: A Primer
• Dark Matter Searches at Colliders
• The Population of Dark Matter Subhaloes: Mass Functions and Average Mass Loss Rates
• Dark matter annihilation and decay in dwarf spheroidal galaxies: The classical and ultrafaint dSphs
• Characterization of subhalo structural properties and implications for dark matter annihilation signals
• Large-scale dark matter simulations
• Implications of High-Resolution Simulations on Indirect Dark Matter Searches
• The moment of truth for WIMP Dark Matter
• Dark matter distribution in dwarf spheroidal galaxies
• Dark Matter Searches with Astroparticle Data
• Dark Matter Dynamics and Indirect Detection
• A unified model for the spatial and mass distribution of subhaloes
• Phat ELVIS: The inevitable effect of the Milky Way's disk on its dark matter subhaloes
• The Caterpillar Project: A Large Suite of Milky Way Sized Halos
• The Substructure Hierarchy in Dark Matter Haloes
• Dark matter searches with Cherenkov telescopes: nearby dwarf galaxies or local galaxy clusters?
• The structure and evolution of cold dark matter halos
• The Copernicus Complexio: a high-resolution view of the small-scale Universe
• The impact of baryonic physics on the subhalo mass function and implications for gravitational lensing
• Can tides disrupt cold dark matter subhaloes?
• No cores in dark matter-dominated dwarf galaxies with bursty star formation histories
• Determining the full satellite population of a Milky Way-mass halo in a highly resolved cosmological hydrodynamic simulation
• CLUMPY: a code for gamma-ray signals from dark matter structures
• Scaling Relations for Dark Matter Annihilation and Decay Profiles in Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies
• Dissecting the Evolution of Dark Matter Subhaloes in the Bolshoi Simulation
• Analytical Approach to Subhaloes Population in Dark Matter Haloes
• Stringent Constraints On The Dark Matter Annihilation Cross Section From Subhalo Searches With The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope
• The tidal evolution of dark matter substructure -- I. Subhalo density profiles
• Halo Substructure Boosts to the Signatures of Dark Matter Annihilation
• Direct detection of WIMPs
• Boosting the annihilation boost: Tidal effects on dark matter subhalos and consistent luminosity modeling
• On the Segregation of Dark Matter Substructure
• MOKA: a new tool for Strong Lensing Studies
• Symphony: Cosmological Zoom-in Simulation Suites over Four Decades of Host Halo Mass
• Dark matter substructure modelling and sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to Galactic dark halos
• DASH: a library of dynamical subhalo evolution
• How low does it go? Too few Galactic satellites with standard reionization quenching
• Realistic estimation for the detectability of dark matter sub-halos with Fermi-LAT
• LCDM halo substructure properties revealed with high resolution and large volume cosmological simulations
• Unidentified Gamma-ray Sources as Targets for Indirect Dark Matter Detection with the Fermi-Large Area Telescope
• Tidal Stripping in the Adiabatic Limit
• Spectral and spatial analysis of the dark matter subhalo candidates among Fermi Large Area Telescope unidentified sources
• Dark matter subhalos and unidentified sources in the Fermi 3FGL source catalog
• The cosmological dependence of halo and galaxy assembly bias
• SatGen -- II. Assessing the impact of a disc potential on subhalo populations
• The Effects of Varying Cosmological Parameters on Halo Substructure
• Baryonic effects on the detectability of annihilation radiation from dark matter subhaloes around the Milky Way
• Diffuse gamma-ray constraints on dark matter revisited. I: the impact of subhalos
• Extending the halo mass resolution of $N$-body simulations
• Universal clustering of dark matter in phase space
• Shedding light on low-mass subhalo survival and annihilation luminosity with numerical simulations
• Investigating the detection of dark matter subhalos as extended sources with Fermi-LAT
• Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to dark subhalos
• Cherenkov Telescope Array sensitivity to branon dark matter models
• Gamma-ray sensitivity to dark matter subhalo modelling at high latitudes
• Spatial extension of dark subhalos as seen by Fermi-LAT and implications for WIMP constraints
• An Accurate Comprehensive Approach to Substructure: III. Masses and Formation Times of the Host Haloes

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Impact of baryons on the population of Galactic subhalos and implications for dark matter searches
• Deeper analysis of Fermi-LAT unassociated 4FGL J2112.5-3043 for possible identification