Indirect dark matter searches in the dwarf satellite galaxy Ursa Major II with the MAGIC telescopes

Ahnen, M. L.; Ansoldi, S.; Antonelli, L. A.; Arcaro, C.; Baack, Dominik; Babić, Ana; Banerjee, B.; Bangale, P.; Almeida, U. Barres de; Barrio, J. A.; González, J. Becerra; Bednarek, W.; Bernardini, E.; Berse, R. Ch.; Berti, Alessio; Bhattacharyya, W.; Biland, A.; Blanch, O.; Bonnoli, G.; Carosi, R.; Carosi, A.; Ceribella, Giovanni; Chatterjee, A.; Colak, S. M.; Colin, P.; Colombo, E.; Contreras, J. L.; Cortina, J.; Covino, S.; Cumani, P.; Vela, P. Da; Dazzi, F.; Angelis, A. De; Lotto, B. De; Delfino, M.; Delgado, J.; Pierro, F. Di; Domínguez, A.; Prester, D. Dominis; Dorner, D.; Doro, M.; Einecke, S.; Elsäesser, D.; Ramazani, Vandad Fallah; Fernández-Barral, A.; Fidalgo, D.; Fonseca, M. V.; Font, L.; Fruck, C.; Galindo, D.; López, R. J. García; Garczarczyk, M.; Gaug, M.; Giammaria, P.; Godinović, N.; Góra, D.; Guberman, D.; Hadasch, D.; Hahn, Alexander; Hassan, Tarek; Hayashida, M.; Herrera, J.; Hose, J.; Hrupec, Dario; Ishio, Kazuma; Konno, Y.; Kubo, H.; Kushida, J.; Kuveždić, D.; Lelas, D.; Lindfors, E.; Lombardi, S.; Longo, F.; López, M.; Maggio, C.; Majumdar, P.; Makariev, M.; Maneva, G.; Manganaro, M.; Mannheim, K.; Maraschi, L.; Mariotti, M.; Martı́nez, M.; Masuda, S.; Mazin, D.; Mielke, K.; Minev, M.; Miranda, J. M.; Mirzoyan, R.; Moralejo, A.; Moreno, V.; Moretti, E.; Nagayoshi, T.; Neustroev, V.; Niedźwiecki, A.; Rosillo, M. Nievas; Nigro, Cosimo; Nilsson, K.; Ninci, D.; Nishijima, K.; Noda, K.; Nogués, L.; Paiano, S.; Palacio, J.; Paneque, D.; Paoletti, R.; Paredes, J. M.; Pedaletti, G.; Peresano, M.; Peršić, M.; Moroni, P. G. Prada; Prandini, E.; Puljak, I.; Garcia, J. Rodriguez; Reichardt, I.; Rhode, W.; Ribó, M.; Rico, J.; Righi, Chiara; Rugliancich, A.; Saito, T.; Satalecka, K.; Schweizer, T.; Sitarek, J.; Šnidarić, Iva; Sobczyńska, D.; Stamerra, A.; Strzys, M.; Surić, T.; Takahashi, Mitsunari; Takalo, L. O.; Tavecchio, F.; Temnikov, P.; Terzić, T.; Teshima, M.; Torres-Albà, N.; Treves, A.; Tsujimoto, S.; Vanzo, G.; Acosta, M. Vazquez; Vovk, Ievgen; Ward, J. E.; Will, Martin; Zarić, Darko

doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2018/03/009

Cited by 42 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 77 publications

(98 reference statements)

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“…With the addition of the second telescope, MAGIC dark matter search strategy was based on deep observations (∼160 h) of the the analysis of 1000 realizations of the null hypothesis (h v i = 0 (for both ON and background regions) generated from backg exposures as for the real data, and J-factors assumed as nu likelihood function. All bounds are consistent with the no-det [45]) and Ursa Major II (right, reprinted figure with permission from reference [46], ©IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab; reproduced by permission of IOP Publishing; all rights reserved) with MAGIC; also shown are the median of the distribution of limits for the null-hypothesis, and the limits of the symmetric 68% and 95% quantiles. For Ursa Major II, both the results with and without considering J statistical uncertainty are shown.…”

Section: Magicsupporting

confidence: 56%

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Gamma-Ray Dark Matter Searches in Milky Way Satellites—A Comparative Review of Data Analysis Methods and Current Results

Rico

2020

Galaxies

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If dark matter is composed of weakly interacting particles with mass in the GeV-TeV range, their annihilation or decay may produce gamma rays that could be detected by gamma-ray telescopes. Observations of dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies of the Milky Way (dSphs) benefit from the relatively accurate predictions of dSph dark matter content to produce robust constraints to the dark matter properties. The sensitivity of these observations for the search for dark matter signals can be optimized thanks to the use of advanced statistical techniques able to exploit the spectral and morphological peculiarities of the expected signal. In this paper, I review the status of the dark matter searches from observations of dSphs with the current generation of gamma-ray telescopes: Fermi-LAT, H.E.S.S, MAGIC, VERITAS and HAWC. I will describe in detail the general statistical analysis framework used by these instruments, putting in context the most recent experimental results and pointing out the most relevant differences among the different particular implementations. This will facilitate the comparison of the current and future results, as well as their eventual integration in a multi-instrument and multi-target dark matter search.

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Section: Magicsupporting

confidence: 56%

“…In addition, MAGIC Segue 1 observations were part of the aforementioned first multi-instrument combined search, together with data from Fermi-LAT [22], a work that I will discuss later in more detail. After that, MAGIC initiated a diversification of observed targets, starting by ∼100 h of observations of the Ursa Major II dSph [46].…”

Section: Magicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gamma-Ray Dark Matter Searches in Milky Way Satellites—A Comparative Review of Data Analysis Methods and Current Results

Rico

2020

Galaxies

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“…These gamma-ray DM searches are complemented at larger WIMP masses by ground-based imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) such as MAGIC, VERITAS and H.E.S.S. [26][27][28].An important fraction of objects in the Fermi-LAT catalogs are unidentified sources (unIDs), i.e., objects with no clear single association or counterpart, to either a known object identified at other wavelengths, or to a known source type emitting only in gamma rays (such as certain pulsars). 1 There is the exciting possibility that some of these unIDs may actually be DM subhalos.…”

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confidence: 99%

Unidentified gamma-ray sources as targets for indirect dark matter detection with theFermi-Large Area Telescope

Coronado-Blázquez

Domínguez

Aguirre-Santaella

et al. 2019

J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys.

115

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One of the predictions of the ΛCDM cosmological framework is the hierarchical formation of structure, giving rise to dark matter (DM) halos and subhalos. When the latter are massive enough they retain gas (i.e., baryons) and become visible. This is the case of the dwarf satellite galaxies in the Milky Way (MW). Below a certain mass, halos may not accumulate significant amounts of baryons and remain completely dark. However, if DM particles are Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), we expect them to annihilate in subhalos, producing gamma rays which can be detected with the Fermi satellite. Using the three most recent point-source Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) catalogs (3FGL, 2FHL and 3FHL), we search for DM subhalo candidates among the unidentified sources, i.e., sources with no firm association to a known astrophysical object. We apply several selection criteria based on the expected properties of the DM-induced emission from subhalos, which allow us to significantly reduce the list of potential candidates. Then, by characterizing the minimum detection flux of the instrument and comparing our sample to predictions from the Via Lactea II (VL-II) N-body cosmological simulation, we place conservative and robust constraints on the σv − m DM parameter space. For annihilation via the τ + τ − channel, we put an upper limit of 4 × 10 −26 (5 × 10 −25 ) cm 3 s −1 for a mass of 10 (100) GeV. A critical improvement over previous treatments is the repopulation we made to include low-mass subhalos below the VL-II mass resolution. With more advanced subhalo candidate filtering the sensitivity reach of our method can potentially improve these constraints by a factor 3 (2) for τ + τ − (bb) channel.are an example of the most massive members of this population [11]. Yet, these dSphs are exceptional objects, in that they are massive enough to retain baryons (i.e., gas) and form stars. Conversely, the vast majority of the Galactic DM subhalos are not expected to host baryons and therefore remain completely dark [12]. Given their much larger number density, many of these small subhalos will be much closer to the Earth than the bigger ones, making them potentially interesting for dark matter searches.Should the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) DM model be correct (see, e.g., [13, 14] for a review), these objects may be detectable in the gamma-ray data. WIMPs can achieve the correct relic DM abundance (the so-called "WIMP miracle") through selfannihilation in the early Universe. Self-annihilation of WIMPs gives rise to a Standard Model (SM) particle-antiparticle pair which, among other possible subsequent by-products, typically yields gamma-ray photons. The ongoing self-annihilation of WIMPs in subhalos could be bright enough to be detectable.Since its launch in 2008, the Large Area Telescope on board the NASA Fermi Gammaray Space Telescope (Fermi-LAT) has been surveying the sky searching for gamma-ray sources [15]. The Fermi-LAT is a pair conversion telescope designed to observe the energy band from 20 MeV to gre...

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“…Since most of those groundbased γ-ray facilities are pointing telescopes, upper limits on DM annihilation cross-sections are obtained by observations on a few well-selected dSphs. Almost the same level of upper limits is obtained by observations with different facilities [90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103]. In the very near future, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) starts its operations and is expected to improve the sensitivity to probe DM annihilation cross-sections by about one order of magnitude [51].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Dependence of accessible dark matter annihilation cross sections on the density profiles of dwarf spheroidal galaxies with the Cherenkov Telescope Array

2019

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Dwarf spheroidal galaxies are excellent targets in γ-ray searches for dark matter. We consider dark matter searches in dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) with the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The aim of this work is to reveal a quantitative and precise dependence of the accessible dark matter annihilation cross-sections on the dark matter density profiles of dSphs and on the distance to them. In most data analyses, researchers have assumed point-like signals from dSphs because it is difficult to resolve the expected emission profiles with current γ-ray observatories. In future however, CTA will be able to resolve the peak emission profiles in dSphs. We take several variations of the dark matter density profile of Draco dSph as examples and analyze the simulated observations of with CTA. We derive the accessible region of the dark matter annihilation crosssection with each dark matter density profile. The accessible region of the annihilation cross-section can differ by a factor of 10 among plausible profiles. We also examine the dependence on the distance to the target dSphs by assuming the same profiles of dSphs at different distances. Closer targets are better due to the higher J-factor, while their spatial extension significantly degrades our reach to the annihilation cross-section compared to the value expected from a simple distance-scaling of the J-factor. Spatial extension of the source affects the probable parameter region in energy-dependent ways. In some γ-ray energy ranges, this behaviour becomes moderately dependent on the properties of the observation facility.

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Indirect dark matter searches in the dwarf satellite galaxy Ursa Major II with the MAGIC telescopes

Cited by 42 publications

References 77 publications

Gamma-Ray Dark Matter Searches in Milky Way Satellites—A Comparative Review of Data Analysis Methods and Current Results

Gamma-Ray Dark Matter Searches in Milky Way Satellites—A Comparative Review of Data Analysis Methods and Current Results

Unidentified gamma-ray sources as targets for indirect dark matter detection with theFermi-Large Area Telescope

Dependence of accessible dark matter annihilation cross sections on the density profiles of dwarf spheroidal galaxies with the Cherenkov Telescope Array

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