Explaining the WMAP Haze with Neutralino Dark Matter

TL;DR

This paper explores whether neutralino dark matter within supersymmetry models can explain the WMAP Haze, finding that many parameter regions predict properties consistent with the observed emission.

Contribution

It evaluates the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model parameter space to assess neutralino dark matter as the source of the WMAP Haze.

Findings

Focus point, A-funnel, and bulk regions predict neutralinos matching the haze properties.

Stau-coannihilation region is disfavored as an explanation.

Future detection prospects are promising if neutralinos cause the haze.

Abstract

It has been argued that the anomalous emission from the region around the Galactic Center observed by WMAP, known as the WMAP Haze, may be the synchrotron emission from relativistic electrons and positrons produced in dark matter annihilations. In particular, the angular distribution, spectrum, and intensity of the observed emission are consistent with the signal expected to result from a WIMP with an electroweak-scale mass and an annihilation cross section near the value predicted for a thermal relic. Here we revisit this signal within the context of supersymmetry and evaluate the parameter space of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. We find that over much of the supersymmetric parameter space the lightest neutralino is predicted to possess the properties required to generate the WMAP Haze. In particular, the focus point, A-funnel, and bulk regions typically predict a neutralino with a mass, annihilation cross section, and dominant annihilation modes that are within the range required to produce the observed features of the WMAP Haze. The stau-coannihilation region, in contrast, is disfavored as an explanation for the origin of this signal. If the WMAP Haze is indeed produced by annihilating neutralinos, prospects for future detection seem promising.