arXiv subjects

Tim Linden

Publications and source records attributed to Tim Linden.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Is the Ultra-High Energy Cosmic-Ray Excess Observed by the Telescope Array Correlated with IceCube Neutrinos?

The Telescope Array (TA) has observed a statistically significant excess in cosmic-rays with energies above 57 EeV in a region of approximately 1150 square degrees centered on coordinates (R.A. = 146.7, Dec. = 43.2). We note that the location of this excess correlates with two of the 28 extraterrestrial neutrinos recently observed by IceCube. The overlap between the two IceCube neutrinos and the TA excess is statistically significant at the 2$σ$ level. Furthermore, the spectrum and intensity of the IceCube neutrinos is consistent with a single source which would also produce the TA excess. Finally, we discuss possible source classes with the correct characteristics to explain the cosmic-ray and neutrino fluxes with a single source.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

A New Determination of the Spectra and Luminosity Function of Gamma-Ray Millisecond Pulsars

In this article, we revisit the gamma-ray emission observed from millisecond pulsars and globular clusters. Based on 5.6 years of data from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, we report gamma-ray spectra for 61 millisecond pulsars, finding most to be well fit by a power-law with an exponential cutoff, producing to a spectral peak near ~1-2 GeV (in $E^2 dN/dE$ units). Additionally, while most globular clusters exhibit a similar spectral shape, we identify a few with significantly softer spectra. We also determine the gamma-ray luminosity function of millisecond pulsars using the population found in the nearby field of the Milky Way, and within the globular cluster 47 Tucanae. We find that the gamma-ray emission observed from globular clusters is dominated by a relatively small number of bright millisecond pulsars, and that low-luminosity pulsars account for only a small fraction of the total flux. Our results also suggest that the gamma-ray emission from millisecond pulsars is more isotropic and less strongly beamed than the emission at X-ray wavelengths. Furthermore, the observed distribution of apparent gamma-ray efficiencies provides support for the slot gap or the outer gap models over those in which the gamma-ray emission originates from regions close to the neutron star's magnetic poles (polar cap models).

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

Searching for Dark Matter Annihilation in the Smith High-Velocity Cloud

Recent observations suggest that some high-velocity clouds may be confined by massive dark matter halos. In particular, the proximity and proposed dark matter content of the Smith Cloud make it a tempting target for the indirect detection of dark matter annihilation. We argue that the Smith Cloud may be a better target than some Milky Way dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies and use gamma-ray observations from the Fermi Large Area Telescope to search for a dark matter annihilation signal. No significant gamma-ray excess is found coincident with the Smith Cloud, and we set strong limits on the dark matter annihilation cross section assuming a spatially-extended dark matter profile consistent with dynamical modeling of the Smith Cloud. Notably, these limits exclude the canonical thermal relic cross section ($\sim 3\times10^{-26}{\rm cm}^{3}{\rm s}^{-1}$) for dark matter masses $\lesssim 30$ GeV annihilating via the $b \bar b$ or $τ^{+}τ^{-}$ channels for certain assumptions of the dark matter density profile; however, uncertainties in the dark matter content of the Smith Cloud may significantly weaken these constraints.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

Circular Polarization of Pulsar Wind Nebulae and the Cosmic-Ray Positron Excess

Recent observations by the PAMELA and AMS-02 telescopes have uncovered an anomalous rise in the positron fraction at energies above 10~GeV. One possible explanation for this excess is the production of primary electron/positron pairs through electromagnetic cascades in pulsar magnetospheres. This process results in a high multiplicity of electron/positron pairs within the wind-termination shock of pulsar wind nebula (PWN). A consequence of this scenario is that no circular polarization should be observed within PWN, since the contributions from electrons and positrons exactly cancel. Here we note that current radio instruments are capable of setting meaningful limits on the circular polarization of synchrotron radiation in PWNs, which observationally test the model for pulsar production of the local positron excess. The observation of a PWN with detectable circular polarization would cast strong doubt on pulsar interpretations of the positron excess, while observations setting strong limits on the circular polarization of PWN would lend credence to these models. Finally, we indicate which pulsar wind nebulae are likely to provide the best targets for observational tests of the AMS-02 excess.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

Tying Dark Matter to Baryons with Self-interactions

Self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) models have been proposed to solve the small-scale issues with the collisionless cold dark matter (CDM) paradigm. We derive equilibrium solutions in these SIDM models for the dark matter halo density profile including the gravitational potential of both baryons and dark matter. Self-interactions drive dark matter to be isothermal and this ties the core sizes and shapes of dark matter halos to the spatial distribution of the stars, a radical departure from previous expectations and from CDM predictions. Compared to predictions of SIDM-only simulations, the core sizes are smaller and the core densities are higher, with the largest effects in baryon-dominated galaxies. As an example, we find a core size around 0.5 kpc for dark matter in the Milky Way, more than an order of magnitude smaller than the core size from SIDM-only simulations, which has important implications for indirect searches of SIDM candidates.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

Antihelium from Dark Matter

Cosmic-ray anti-nuclei provide a promising discovery channel for the indirect detection of particle dark matter. Hadron showers produced by the pair-annihilation or decay of Galactic dark matter generate anti-nucleons which can in turn form light anti-nuclei. Previous studies have only focused on the spectrum and flux of low energy antideuterons which, although very rarely, are occasionally also produced by cosmic-ray spallation. Heavier elements ($A\geq3$) have instead entirely negligible astrophysical background and a primary yield from dark matter which could be detectable by future experiments. Using a Monte Carlo event generator and an event-by-event phase space analysis, we compute, for the first time, the production spectrum of \antihe and \antiT for dark matter annihilating or decaying to $b\bar{b}$ and ${W^+}{W^-}$ final states. We then employ a semi-analytic model of interstellar and heliospheric propagation to calculate the \antihe flux as well as to provide tools to relate the anti-helium spectrum corresponding to an arbitrary antideuteron spectrum. Finally, we discuss prospects for current and future experiments, including GAPS and AMS-02.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Testing the dark matter origin of the WMAP-Planck Haze with radio observations of Spiral Galaxies

If the Galactic WMAP radio haze, as recently confirmed by Planck, is produced by dark matter annihilation or decay, similar diffuse radio halos should exist around other galaxies with physical properties comparable to the Milky Way. If instead the haze is due to an astrophysical mechanism peculiar to the Milky Way or to a transient event, a similar halo need not exist around all Milky Way "twins". We use radio observations of 66 spiral galaxies to test the dark matter origin of the haze. We select galaxies based on morphological type and maximal rotational velocity, and obtain their luminosities from a 1.49 GHz catalog and additional radio observations at other frequencies. We find many instances of galaxies with radio emission that is less than 5% as bright as naively expected from dark matter models that could produce the Milky Way haze, and at least 3 galaxies that are less than 1% as bright as expected, assuming dark matter distributions, magnetic fields, and cosmic ray propagation parameters equal to those of the Milky Way. For reasonable ranges for the variation of these parameters, we estimate the fraction of galaxies that should be expected to be significantly less bright in radio, and argue that this is marginally compatible with the observed distribution. While our findings therefore cannot rule out a dark matter origin for the radio haze at this time, we find numerous examples (including the Andromeda Galaxy) where, if dark matter is indeed the origin of the Milky Way haze, some mechanism must be in place to suppress the corresponding haze of the external galaxy. We point out that Planck data will offer opportunities to improve this type of constraint in a highly relevant frequency range and for a potentially larger set of candidate galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Probing the Pulsar Origin of the Anomalous Positron Fraction with AMS-02 and Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes

Recent observations by PAMELA, Fermi-LAT, and AMS-02 have conclusively indicated a rise in the cosmic-ray positron fraction above 10 GeV, a feature which is impossible to mimic under the paradigm of secondary positron production with self-consistent Galactic cosmic-ray propagation models. A leading explanation for the rising positron fraction is an additional source of electron-positron pairs, for example one or more mature, energetic, and relatively nearby pulsars. We point out that any one of two well-known nearby pulsars, Geminga and Monogem, can satisfactorily provide enough positrons to reproduce AMS-02 observations. A smoking-gun signature of this scenario is an anisotropy in the arrival direction of the cosmic-ray electrons and positrons, which may be detectable by existing, or future, telescopes. The predicted anisotropy level is, at present, consistent with limits from Fermi-LAT and AMS-02. We argue that the large collecting area of Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (ACTs) makes them optimal tools for detecting such an anisotropy. Specifically, we show that much of the proton and gamma-ray background, which affects measurements of the cosmic-ray electron-positron spectrum with ACTs, may be controlled in the search for anisotropies. We conclude that observations using archival ACT data could already constrain or substantiate the pulsar origin of the positron anomaly, while upcoming instruments (such as the Cherenkov Telescope Array) will provide strong constraints on the source of the rising positron fraction.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

Pulsars Cannot Account for the Inner Galaxy's GeV Excess

Using data from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, a spatially extended component of gamma rays has been identified from the direction of the Galactic Center, peaking at energies of ~2-3 GeV. More recently, it has been shown that this signal is not confined to the innermost hundreds of parsecs of the Galaxy, but instead extends to at least ~3 kpc from the Galactic Center. While the spectrum, intensity, and angular distribution of this signal is in good agreement with predictions from annihilating dark matter, it has also been suggested that a population of unresolved millisecond pulsars could be responsible for this excess GeV emission from the Inner Galaxy. In this paper, we consider this later possibility in detail. Comparing the observed spectral shape of the Inner Galaxy's GeV excess to the spectrum measured from 37 millisecond pulsars by Fermi, we find that these sources exhibit a spectral shape that is much too soft at sub-GeV energies to accommodate this signal. We also construct population models to describe the spatial distribution and luminosity function of the Milky Way's millisecond pulsars. After taking into account constraints from the observed distribution of Fermi sources (including both sources known to be millisecond pulsars, and unidentified sources which could be pulsars), we find that millisecond pulsars can account for no more than ~10% of the Inner Galaxy's GeV excess. Each of these arguments strongly disfavor millisecond pulsars as the source of this signal.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

A Clustering Analysis of the Morphology of the 130 GeV Gamma-Ray Feature

Recent observations indicating the existence of a monochromatic gamma-ray line with energy ~130 GeV in the Fermi-LAT data have attracted great interest due to the possibility that the line feature stems from the annihilation of dark matter particles. Many studies examining the robustness of the putative line-signal have concentrated on its spectral attributes. Here, we study the morphological features of the gamma-ray line photons, which can be used to differentiate a putative dark matter signal from astrophysical backgrounds or instrumental artifacts. Photons stemming from dark matter annihilation will produce events tracing a specific morphology, with a statistical clustering that can be calculated based on models of the dark matter density profile in the inner Galaxy. We apply the DBSCAN clustering algorithm to Fermi gamma-ray data, and show that we can rule out the possibility that 1 (2, 4) or fewer point-like sources produce the observed morphology for the line photons at a 99% (95%, 90%) confidence level. Our study strongly disfavors the main astrophysical background envisioned to produce a line feature at energies above 100 GeV: cold pulsar winds. It is highly unlikely that 4 or more such objects have exactly the same monochromatic cosmic-ray energy needed to produce a gamma-ray line, to within instrumental energy resolution. Furthermore, we show that the larger photon statistics expected with Air Cherenkov Telescopes such as H.E.S.S.-II will allow for extraordinarily stringent morphological tests of the origin of the "line photons".

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2012

Exploring the Nature of the Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Source with the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Observations from multiple gamma-ray telescopes have uncovered a high energy gamma-ray source spatially coincident with the Galactic center. Recently, a compelling model for the broad-band gamma-ray emission has been formulated which posits that high energy protons emanating from Sgr A* could produce gamma-rays through pion decays resulting from inelastic collisions with the traversed interstellar gas in the region. Models of the gas distribution in the Galactic center region imply that the resulting gamma-ray morphology would be observed as a point source with all current telescopes, but that the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) may be able to detect an extended emission profile with an unmistakable morphology. Here, we critically evaluate this claim, employing a three dimensional gas distribution model and a detailed Monte Carlo simulation, and using the anticipated effective area and angular resolution of CTA. We find that the impressive angular resolution of CTA will be key to test hadronic emission models conclusively against, for example, point source or dark matter annihilation scenarios. We comment on the relevance of this result for searches for dark matter annihilation in the Galactic center region.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2012

Are Lines From Unassociated Gamma-Ray Sources Evidence For Dark Matter Annihilation?

Very recently, it was pointed out that there exists a population of gamma-ray sources without associations at other wavelengths which exhibit spectral features consistent with mono-energetic lines at energies of approximately 111 and 129 GeV. Given recent evidence of similar gamma-ray lines from the Inner Galaxy, it is tempting to interpret these unassociated sources as nearby dark matter subhalos, powered by ongoing annihilations. In this paper, we study the spectrum, luminosity, and angular distribution of these sources, with the intention of testing the hypothesis that they are, in fact, dark matter subhalos. We find that of the 12 sources containing at least one prospective line photon, only 2 exhibit an overall gamma-ray spectrum which is consistent with that predicted from dark matter annihilations (2FGL J2351.6-7558 and 2FGL J0555.9-4348). After discounting the 10 clearly non-dark matter sources, the statistical significance of the remaining two prospective line photons is negligible. That being said, we cannot rule out the possibility that either or both of these sources are dark matter subhalos; their overall luminosity and galactic latitude distribution are not inconsistent with a dark matter origin.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2012

Gamma-ray Lines in the Fermi Data: is it a Bubble?

Recently, tentative evidence for an excess of gamma rays at energies around 130 GeV has been reported from analyses of data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). The excess is potentially of great interest, as it could be associated with the pair-annihilation of Galactic dark matter and the subsequent production of monochromatic or internal bremsstrahlung gamma rays. The 130 GeV excess appears when an optimized selection of the target region of interest is employed, a procedure that depends upon the assumed dark matter density profile. For the profiles producing an appreciable signal, these target regions vastly overlap with the region corresponding to the so-called "Fermi bubbles". We argue that the tentative evidence for a line feature is likely due to hard photons in the Fermi bubbles regions, where the gamma-ray spectrum contains a spectral break in the energy range of interest (100-150 GeV). Although the origin of this broken power-law is unclear, it is probably related to standard astrophysical processes and not to dark matter annihilation. A broken power-law provides as good a fit as a line "excess", even within small energy windows, and a significantly better fit for large energy windows.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2012

The Morphology of Hadronic Emission Models for the Gamma-Ray Source at the Galactic Center

Recently, detections of a high-energy gamma-ray source at the position of the Galactic center have been reported by multiple gamma-ray telescopes, spanning the energy range between 100 MeV and 100 TeV. Analysis of these signals strongly suggests the TeV emission to have a morphology consistent with a point source up to the angular resolution of the HESS telescope (approximately 3 pc), while the point-source nature of the GeV emission is currently unsettled, with indications that it may be spatially extended. In the case that the emission is hadronic and in a steady state, we show that the expected gamma-ray morphology is dominated by the distribution of target gas, rather than by details of cosmic-ray injection and propagation. Specifically, we expect a significant portion of hadronic emission to coincide with the position of the circum-nuclear ring, which resides between 1-3 pc from the Galactic center. We note that the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be able to observe conclusive correlations between the morphology of the TeV gamma-ray source and the observed gas density, convincingly confirming or ruling out a hadronic origin for the gamma-ray emission.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2012

The Isotropic Radio Background and Annihilating Dark Matter

Observations by ARCADE-2 and other telescopes sensitive to low frequency radiation have revealed the presence of an isotropic radio background with a hard spectral index. The intensity of this observed background is found to exceed the flux predicted from astrophysical sources by a factor of approximately 5-6. In this article, we consider the possibility that annihilating dark matter particles provide the primary contribution to the observed isotropic radio background through the emission of synchrotron radiation from electron and positron annihilation products. For reasonable estimates of the magnetic fields present in clusters and galaxies, we find that dark matter could potentially account for the observed radio excess, but only if it annihilates mostly to electrons and/or muons, and only if it possesses a mass in the range of approximately 5-50 GeV. For such models, the annihilation cross section required to normalize the synchrotron signal to the observed excess is sigma v ~ (0.4-30) x 10^-26 cm^3/s, similar to the value predicted for a simple thermal relic (sigma v ~ 3 x 10^-26 cm^3/s). We find that in any scenario in which dark matter annihilations are responsible for the observed excess radio emission, a significant fraction of the isotropic gamma ray background observed by Fermi must result from dark matter as well.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

On The Origin Of The Gamma Rays From The Galactic Center

The region surrounding the center of the Milky Way is both astrophysically rich and complex, and is predicted to contain very high densities of dark matter. Utilizing three years of data from the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope (and the recently available Pass 7 ultraclean event class), we study the morphology and spectrum of the gamma ray emission from this region and find evidence of a spatially extended component which peaks at energies between 300 MeV and 10 GeV. We compare our results to those reported by other groups and find good agreement. The extended emission could potentially originate from either the annihilations of dark matter particles in the inner galaxy, or from the collisions of high energy protons that are accelerated by the Milky Way's supermassive black hole with gas. If interpreted as dark matter annihilation products, the emission spectrum favors dark matter particles with a mass in the range of 7-12 GeV (if annihilating dominantly to leptons) or 25-45 GeV (if annihilating dominantly to hadronic final states). The intensity of the emission corresponds to a dark matter annihilation cross section consistent with that required to generate the observed cosmological abundance in the early universe (sigma v ~ 3 x 10^-26 cm^3/s). We also present conservative limits on the dark matter annihilation cross section which are at least as stringent as those derived from other observations.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

Dark Matter and Synchrotron Emission from Galactic Center Radio Filaments

The inner degrees of the Galactic center contain a large population of filamentary structures observed at radio frequencies. These so-called non-thermal radio filaments (NRFs) trace magnetic field lines and have attracted significant interest due to their hard (S_v ~ -0.1 +/- 0.4) synchrotron emission spectra. The origin of these filaments remains poorly understood. We show that the electrons and positrons created through the annihilations of a relatively light (~5-10 GeV) dark matter particle with the cross section predicted for a simple thermal relic can provide a compelling match to the intensity, spectral shape, and flux variation of the NRFs. Furthermore, the characteristics of the dark matter particle necessary to explain the synchrotron emission from the NRFs is consistent with those required to explain the excess gamma-ray emission observed from the Galactic center by the Fermi-LAT, as well as the direct detection signals observed by CoGeNT and DAMA/LIBRA.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

Gamma Rays From The Galactic Center and the WMAP Haze

Recently, an analysis of data from the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope has revealed a flux of gamma rays concentrated around the inner ~0.5 degrees of the Milky Way, with a spectrum that is sharply peaked at 2-4 GeV. If interpreted as the products of annihilating dark matter, this signal implies that the dark matter consists of particles with a mass between 7.3 and 9.2 GeV annihilating primarily to charged leptons. This mass range is very similar to that required to accommodate the signals reported by CoGeNT and DAMA/LIBRA. In addition to gamma rays, the dark matter is predicted to produce energetic electrons and positrons in the Inner Galaxy, which emit synchrotron photons as a result of their interaction with the galactic magnetic field. In this letter, we calculate the flux and spectrum of this synchrotron emission assuming that the gamma rays from the Galactic Center originate from dark matter, and compare the results to measurements from the WMAP satellite. We find that a sizable flux of hard synchrotron emission is predicted in this scenario, and that this can easily account for the observed intensity, spectrum, and morphology of the "WMAP Haze".

astro-ph.HE↗