Dark matter origin of the gamma ray emission from the galactic center observed by HESS

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the gamma ray emission observed from the Galactic Center by HESS can be explained by dark matter annihilation, with the signal's intensity and distribution supporting baryonic contraction effects.

Contribution

It demonstrates that dark matter annihilation can account for the gamma ray spectrum and morphology observed by HESS, highlighting the role of baryonic contraction in signal enhancement.

Findings

Gamma ray spectrum fits dark matter annihilation models

Signal morphology suggests baryonic contraction effects

Background consistent with Fermi-LAT observations

Abstract

We show that the gamma ray spectrum observed with the HESS array of Cherenkov telescopes coming from the Galactic Center (GC) region and identified with the source HESS J1745-290, is well fitted by the secondary photons coming from dark matter (DM) annihilation over a diffuse power-law background. The amount of photons and morphology of the signal localized within a region of few parsecs, require compressed DM profiles as those resulting from baryonic contraction, which offer $\sim 10^3$ enhancements in the signal over DM alone simulations. The fitted background from HESS data is consistent with recent Fermi-LAT observations of the same region.