Seeking particle dark matter in the TeV sky

TL;DR

This paper reviews the search for particle dark matter in the TeV gamma-ray sky using Cherenkov telescopes, discussing experimental challenges, current results, and future survey prospects for detecting dark matter annihilation signals.

Contribution

It introduces a new wide-field survey approach for detecting Galactic subhaloes with Cherenkov telescopes, expanding current search strategies.

Findings

Current Cherenkov telescopes set constraints on dark matter models.

Detection of gamma-rays from dense Galactic regions remains challenging.

Future wide-field surveys could improve dark matter detection prospects.

Abstract

Under the assumption that dark matter is made of new particles, annihilations of those are required to reproduce the correct dark matter abundance in the Universe. This process can occur in dense regions of our Galaxy such as the Galactic center, dwarf galaxies and other types of sub-haloes. High-energy gamma-rays are expected to be produced in dark matter particle collisions and could be detected by ground-based Cherenkov telescopes such as HESS, MAGIC and VERITAS. The main experimental challenges to get constraints on particle dark matter models are reviewed, making explicit the pros and cons that are inherent to this technique, together with the current results from running observatories. Main results concerning dark matter searches towards selected targets with Cherenkov telescopes are presented. Eventually, a focus is made on a new way to perform a search for Galactic subhaloes with such telescopes, based on wide-field surveys, as well as future prospects.