Search for dark matter gamma-ray emission from the Andromeda Galaxy with the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory

A. Albert, Los Alamos National Laboratory
R. Alfaro, Universidad Nacional Aut´onoma de M´exico
C. Alvarez, Universidad Aut´onoma de Chiapas
C. Brisbois, Michigan Technological University
B. Hona, Michigan Technological University
P. Hüntemeyer, Michigan Technological University
et al.

This article has an Erratum: https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2019/04/E01

The Erratum is: © 2019 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd on behalf of Sissa Medialab. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2019/04/E01

Abstract

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is a nearby (∼780 kpc) galaxy similar to our own Milky Way. Observational evidence suggests that it resides in a large halo of dark matter (DM), making it a good target for DM searches. We present a search for gamma rays from M31 using 1017 days of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory. With its wide field of view and constant monitoring, HAWC is well-suited to search for DM in extended targets like M31. No DM annihilation or decay signal was detected for DM masses from 1 to 100 TeV in the b ¯b, tt¯, τ +τ −, µ +µ −, and W+W− channels. Therefore we present limits on those processes. Our limits nicely complement the existing body of DM limits from other targets and instruments. Specifically the DM decay limits from our benchmark model are the most constraining for DM masses from 25 TeV to 100 TeV in the b ¯b and tt¯ channels. In addition to DM-specific limits, we also calculate general gamma-ray flux limits for M31 in 5 energy bins from 1 TeV to 100 TeV.