Possible Evidence For Dark Matter Annihilation In The Inner Milky Way From The Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope

TL;DR

This paper presents evidence that gamma-ray observations from the Galactic Center could be explained by dark matter annihilation, fitting data with a specific particle mass and annihilation profile, though astrophysical sources remain a possibility.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis fitting Fermi gamma-ray data with a dark matter annihilation model, suggesting a specific particle mass and distribution profile.

Findings

Gamma-ray data fits well with a 25-30 GeV dark matter particle hypothesis.

Annihilation cross section estimated at ~9x10^-26 cm^3/s.

Inner Galactic halo profile consistent with a cusped distribution.

Abstract

We study the gamma rays observed by the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope from the direction of the Galactic Center and find that their angular distribution and energy spectrum are well described by a dark matter annihilation scenario. In particular, we find a good fit to the data for dark matter particles with a 25-30 GeV mass, an annihilation cross section of ~9x10^-26 cm^3/s, and that are distributed with a cusped halo profile within the inner kiloparsec of the Galaxy. We cannot, however, exclude the possibility that these photons originate from an astrophysical source or sources with a similar morphology and spectral shape to those predicted in an annihilating dark matter scenario.