Search for dark matter in compact hydrogen clouds

TL;DR

This study searches for gamma-ray signals from neutral hydrogen clouds that could indicate the presence of dark matter, using Fermi data to set upper limits on gamma-ray fluxes and dark matter annihilation.

Contribution

It introduces a method to use gamma-ray observations to distinguish dark matter dominated clouds from purely gaseous ones, providing new constraints on dark matter properties.

Findings

Set gamma-ray flux upper limits for 20 hydrogen clouds.

Derived constraints on dark matter annihilation signals.

Provided insights into the nature of high-latitude hydrogen clouds.

Abstract

The recently published GALFA-HI Compact Cloud Catalogue lists 20 neutral hydrogen clouds that might pinpoint previously undiscovered high-latitude dwarf galaxies. Detection of an associated gamma-ray dark matter signal could provide a route to distinguish unambiguously between truly dark matter dominated systems that have accumulated neutral hydrogen but have not successfully ignited star formation and pure gaseous structures devoid of dark matter. We use 4.3 years of Fermi observations to derive gamma-ray flux upper limits in the 1-300 GeV energy range for the sample. Limits on gamma rays from pair annihilation of dark matter are also presented depending on the yet unknown astrophysical factors.