Constraining Dark Matter Models from a Combined Analysis of Milky Way Satellites with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
The Fermi-LAT Collaboration, :, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, A. Albert, W. B. Atwood, L. Baldini, J. Ballet, G. Barbiellini, D. Bastieri, K. Bechtol, R. Bellazzini, B. Berenji, R. D. Blandford, E. D. Bloom, E. Bonamente, A. W. Borgland, J. Bregeon, M. Brigida, P. Bruel, R. Buehler, T. H. Burnett, S. Buson, G. A. Caliandro, R. A. Cameron, B. Canadas, P. A. Caraveo, J. M. Casandjian, C. Cecchi, E. Charles, A. Chekhtman, J. Chiang, S. Ciprini, R. Claus, J. Cohen-Tanugi, J. Conrad, S. Cutini, A. de Angelis, F. de Palma, C. D. Dermer, S. W. Digel, E. do Couto e Silva, P. S. Drell, A. Drlica-Wagner, L. Falletti, C. Favuzzi, S. J. Fegan, E. C. Ferrara, Y. Fukazawa, S. Funk, P. Fusco, F. Gargano, D. Gasparrini, N. Gehrels, S. Germani, N. Giglietto, F. Giordano, M. Giroletti, T. Glanzman, G. Godfrey, I. A. Grenier, S. Guiriec, M. Gustafsson, D. Hadasch, M. Hayashida, E. Hays, R. E. Hughes, T. E. Jeltema, G. Johannesson, R. P. Johnson, A. S. Johnson, T. Kamae, H. Katagiri, J. Kataoka, J. Knödlseder, M. Kuss, J. Lande, L. Latronico, A. M. Lionetto, M. Llena Garde, F. Longo, F. Loparco, B. Lott, M. N. Lovellette, P. Lubrano, G. M. Madejski, M. N. Mazziotta, J. E. McEnery, J. Mehault, P. F. Michelson, W. Mitthumsiri, T. Mizuno, C. Monte, M. E. Monzani, A. Morselli, I. V. Moskalenko, S. Murgia, M. Naumann-Godo, J. P. Norris, E. Nuss, T. Ohsugi, A. Okumura, N. Omodei, E. Orlando, J. F. Ormes, M. Ozaki, D. Paneque, D. Parent, M. Pesce-Rollins, M. Pierbattista, F. Piron, G. Pivato, T. A. Porter, S. Profumo, S. Raino, M. Razzano, A. Reimer, O. Reimer, S. Ritz, M. Roth, H. F. -W. Sadrozinski, C. Sbarra, J. D. Scargle, T. L. Schalk, C. Sgro, E. J. Siskind, G. Spandre, P. Spinelli, L. Strigari, D. J. Suson, H. Tajima, H. Takahashi, T. Tanaka, J. G. Thayer, J. B. Thayer, D. J. Thompson, L. Tibaldo, M. Tinivella, D. F. Torres, E. Troja, Y. Uchiyama, J. Vandenbroucke, V. Vasileiou, G. Vianello, V. Vitale, A. P. Waite, P. Wang, B. L. Winer, K. S. Wood, M. Wood, Z. Yang, S. Zimmer, M. Kaplinghat, G. D. Martinez
TL;DR
This work addresses constraining dark matter annihilation by gamma rays from Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies. It employs a joint likelihood analysis across 10 dSphs with Fermi-LAT data, explicitly incorporating uncertainties in the astrophysical J factors. The study finds no detectable signal and sets robust 95% CL upper limits on the annihilation cross section for several final states, excluding the most generic s-wave cross section for certain WIMP masses. By integrating multiple targets and treating J-factor uncertainties, the approach provides stronger, more reliable constraints on WIMP models and informs future gamma-ray searches with Fermi-LAT.
Abstract
Satellite galaxies of the Milky Way are among the most promising targets for dark matter searches in gamma rays. We present a search for dark matter consisting of weakly interacting massive particles, applying a joint likelihood analysis to 10 satellite galaxies with 24 months of data of the Fermi Large Area Telescope. No dark matter signal is detected. Including the uncertainty in the dark matter distribution, robust upper limits are placed on dark matter annihilation cross sections. The 95% confidence level upper limits range from about 1e-26 cm^3 s^-1 at 5 GeV to about 5e-23 cm^3 s^-1 at 1 TeV, depending on the dark matter annihilation final state. For the first time, using gamma rays, we are able to rule out models with the most generic cross section (~3e-26 cm^3 s^-1 for a purely s-wave cross section), without assuming additional boost factors.