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arXiv · 0912.1854

The detectability of dark matter annihilation with Fermi using the anisotropy energy spectrum of the gamma-ray background

Brandon S. Hensley·Jennifer M. Siegal-Gaskins·Vasiliki Pavlidou
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Abstract

The energy-dependence of the anisotropy (the anisotropy energy spectrum) of the large-scale diffuse gamma-ray background can reveal the presence of multiple source populations. Annihilating dark matter in the substructure of the Milky Way halo could give rise to a modulation in the anisotropy energy spectrum of the diffuse gamma-ray emission measured by Fermi, enabling the detection of a dark matter signal. We determine the detectability of a dark-matter-induced modulation for scenarios in which unresolved blazars are the primary contributor to the measured emission above ~1 GeV and find that in some scenarios pair-annihilation cross sections of order the value expected for thermal relic dark matter can produce a detectable feature. We anticipate that the sensitivity of this technique to specific dark matter models could be improved by tailored likelihood analysis methods.

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Brandon S. Hensley, Jennifer M. Siegal-Gaskins, Vasiliki Pavlidou. 2009-12-09. The detectability of dark matter annihilation with Fermi using the anisotropy energy spectrum of the gamma-ray background. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/723/1/277

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