A global analysis of dark matter signals from 27 dwarf spheroidal
galaxies using 11 years of Fermi-LAT observations
galaxies using 11 years of Fermi-LAT observations
File(s)1812.06986.pdf (2.53 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Hoof, Sebastian
Geringer-Sameth, Alex
Trotta, Roberto
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We search for a dark matter signal in 11 years of Fermi-LAT gamma-ray data from 27 Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies with spectroscopically measured J-factors. Our analysis includes uncertainties in J-factors and background normalisations and compares results from a Bayesian and a frequentist perspective. We revisit the dwarf spheroidal galaxy Reticulum II, confirming that the purported gamma-ray excess seen in Pass 7 data is much weaker in Pass 8, independently of the statistical approach adopted. We introduce for the first time posterior predictive distributions to quantify the probability of a dark matter detection from another dwarf galaxy given a tentative excess. A global analysis including all 27 dwarfs shows no indication for a signal in nine annihilation channels. We present stringent new Bayesian and frequentist upper limits on the dark matter cross section as a function of dark matter mass. The best-fit dark matter parameters associated with the Galactic Centre excess are excluded by at least 95% confidence level/posterior probability in the frequentist/Bayesian framework in all cases. However, from a Bayesian model comparison perspective, dark matter annihilation within the dwarfs is not strongly disfavoured compared to a background-only model. These results constitute the highest exposure analysis on the most complete sample of dwarfs to date. Posterior samples and likelihood maps from this study are publicly available.
Date Issued
2020-02-13
Date Acceptance
2020-01-27
Citation
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2020, 2020 (02)
ISSN
1475-7516
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Volume
2020
Issue
02
Copyright Statement
© 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab. This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The definitive publisher authenticated version is available online at https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1475-7516/2020/02/012
Sponsor
European Commission
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Identifier
http://arxiv.org/abs/1812.06986v1
Grant Number
H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015-691164
ST-N000838
ST/N000838/1
ST/P000762/1
Subjects
astro-ph.CO
astro-ph.CO
astro-ph.HE
hep-ph
Notes
26+3 pages, 7 figures
Publication Status
Published