Search for gamma-ray spectral lines from dark matter annihilation in dwarf galaxies with the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov observatory

Authors

A. Albert, Los Alamos National Laboratory
R. Alfaro, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
C. Alvarez, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas
J. C. Arteaga-Velázquez, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
K. P. Arunbabu, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
D. Avila Rojas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
H. A. Ayala Solares, Pennsylvania State University
E. Belmont-Moreno, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
S. Y. Benzvi, University of Rochester
C. Brisbois, University of Maryland
K. S. Caballero-Mora, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas
T. Capistrán, Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica Optica y Electronica
A. Carramiñana, Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica Optica y Electronica
S. Casanova, Henryk Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences
U. Cotti, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
J. Cotzomi, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla
S. Coutiño De León, Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica Optica y Electronica
E. De La Fuente, Universidad de Guadalajara
S. Dichiara, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
B. L. Dingus, Los Alamos National Laboratory
M. A. Duvernois, University of Wisconsin-Madison
J. C. Díaz-Vélez, Universidad de Guadalajara
K. Engel, University of Maryland
C. Espinoza, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
N. Fraija, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
A. Galván-Gámez, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
J. A. García-González, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
F. Garfias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
M. M. González, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
J. A. Goodman, University of Maryland
J. P. Harding, Los Alamos National Laboratory
S. Hernandez, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
B. Hona, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
D. Huang, Michigan Technological University
P. Huentemeyer, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
et. al.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-15-2020

Department

Department of Physics

Abstract

Local dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) are nearby dark-matter dominated systems, making them excellent targets for searching for gamma rays from particle dark matter interactions. If dark matter annihilates or decays directly into two gamma rays (or a gamma ray and a neutral particle), a monochromatic spectral line is created. At TeV energies, no other process is predicted to produce spectral lines, making this a very clean indirect dark matter search channel. With the development of event-by-event energy reconstruction, we can now search for spectral lines with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory. HAWC is a wide field of view survey instrument located in central Mexico that observes gamma rays from ∼200 GeV to ∼200 TeV. In this work we present results from a recent search for spectral lines from local, dark matter dominated, dwarf galaxies using 1038 days of HAWC data. We also present updated limits on several continuum channels that were reported in a previous publication. Our gamma-ray spectral line limits are the most constraining obtained so far from 20 TeV to 100 TeV.

Publisher's Statement

© 2020 American Physical Society. © 2020 American Physical Society. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.101.103001

Publication Title

Physical Review D

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