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Dark Matter Limits from Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies with the HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory

  • A. Albert
    ,
  • R. Alfaro
    ,
  • C. Alvarez
    ,
  • J. D. Álvarez
    ,
  • R. Arceo
    ,
  • J. C. Arteaga-Velázquez
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory
    ,
  • Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
    ,
  • Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas
    ,
  • Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo
    ,
  • Michigan Technological University
    ,
  • Universidad Politecnica de Pachuca
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Abstract

The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) gamma-ray observatory is a wide field of view observatory sensitive to 500 GeV-100 TeV gamma-rays and cosmic rays. It can also perform diverse indirect searches for dark matter annihilation and decay. Among the most promising targets for the indirect detection of dark matter are dwarf spheroidal galaxies. These objects are expected to have few astrophysical sources of gamma-rays but high dark matter content, making them ideal candidates for an indirect dark matter detection with gamma-rays. Here we present individual limits on the annihilation cross section and decay lifetime for 15 dwarf spheroidal galaxies within the field of view, as well as their combined limit. These are the first limits on the annihilation cross section and decay lifetime using data collected with HAWC. We also present the HAWC flux upper limits of the 15 dwarf spheroidal galaxies in half-decade energy bins.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output:
Contribution to journal
Article
 Peer-review

Original language

English

Article number

154

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 154

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Astrophysical Journal (Volume 853, Issue 2)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 01/02/2018

Publication status

Published - 01/02/2018

ISSN

0004-637X

Publication IDs

  • Scopus: 85041918884

Access to documents

Funding Details

We acknowledge the support from: the US National Science Foundation (NSF); the US Department of Energy Office of bottom panels show the quark channels, lepton channels, and boson channel, respectively, for DM masses ranging from 1–100 TeV. Figure 5 shows 15 individual dSph limits, and the combined limit from these 15 dSphs (in black). Similar to the DM annihilation results, the limits are driven by Segue 1, Coma Berenices, and Triangulum II, though for decays, Bootes I and Draco also contribute significantly to the combined limits. ThisisduetothefactthatDMdecayisrelatedtoòr (totalDM High-Energy Physics; the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program of Los Alamos National Laboratory; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT), México (grants 271051, 232656, 260378, 179588, 239762, 254964, 271737, 258865, 243290, 132197, 281653)(Cátedras 873, 1563), Laboratorio Nacional HAWC de rayos gamma; L’OREAL Fellowship for Women in Science 2014; Red HAWC, México; DGAPA-UNAM (grants IG100317, IN111315, IN111716-3, IA102715, 109916, IA102917, IN112218); VIEP-BUAP; PIFI 2012, 2013, PRO-FOCIE 2014, 2015; the University of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation; the Institute of Geophysics, Planetary Physics, and Signatures at Los Alamos National Laboratory; Polish Science Centre grant DEC-2014/13/B/ST9/945; Coordinación de la Investigación Científica de la Universidad Michoacana. Thanks to Scott Delay, Luciano Díaz and Eduardo Murrieta for technical support.
FundersFunding numbers
DGAPA-UNAM
IA102917, IA102715, IN111716-3, 109916, IN111315, IG100317, IN112218
Planetary Physics
-
Polish Science Centre
DEC-2014/13/B/ST9/945
US Department of Energy
-
US National Science Foundation
-
VIEP-BUAP
-
NSF
1308127, 1606566
NSF
-
WARF
-
LDRD
-
LANL
-
NRIAG
-
CONACYT
239762, 271051, 254964, 258865, 281653, 260378, 132197, 179588, 232656, 243290, 271737
CONACYT
-
CIC
-