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Dainis Dravins

Dainis Dravins

Professor emeritus

Dainis Dravins

Dark matter searches in dwarf spheroidal galaxies with the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Author

  • F.G. Saturni
  • C. Carlile
  • D. Dravins
  • J. Zuriaga-Puig

Summary, in English

Dark matter (DM) is one of the major components in the Universe. However, at present its existence is still only inferred through indirect astronomical observations. DM particles can annihilate or decay, producing final-state Standard Model pairs that subsequently annihilate into high-energy γrays. The dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) in the Milky Way DM halo have long been considered optimal targets to search for annihilating DM signatures in GeV-to-TeV γ-ray spectra due to their high DM densities (hence high astrophysical factors), as well as the expected absence of intrinsic γ-ray emission of astrophysical origin. For such targets, it is important to compute the amount of DM in their halos in a consistent way to optimize the γ-ray data analysis. Such estimates directly affect the observability of DM signals in dSphs, as well as the DM constraints that can be derived in case of null detection. In this contribution, we present the results on the sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) for DM annihilation and decay searches using planned observations of the Milky Way dSphs. We select the most promising targets among all presently known dwarf satellites, providing new determinations of their expected DM signal. This study shows an improvement of approximately an order of magnitude in sensitivity compared to current searches in similar targets. We also discuss the results in terms of cuspy and cored DM models, and investigate the sensitivity obtained by the combination of observations from different dSphs. Finally, we explore the optimal strategies for CTA observations of dSphs. © Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons.

Department/s

  • Astrophysics

Publishing year

2024

Language

English

Publication/Series

Proceedings of Science

Volume

444

Document type

Conference paper

Topic

  • Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Keywords

  • Cosmic ray detectors
  • Cosmic rays
  • Dark Matter
  • Photons
  • Astronomical observation
  • Cherenkov telescope arrays
  • Dark matter
  • Dark matter particles
  • Dark matter searches
  • Energy
  • Final state
  • Milky ways
  • Standard model
  • State standards
  • Telescopes

Conference name

38th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2023

Conference date

2023-07-26 - 2023-08-03

Conference place

Nagoya, Japan

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1824-8039