AMS-02 fits Dark Matter

TL;DR

This paper performs a detailed statistical analysis of AMS-02 cosmic ray data within a dark matter model, showing that including dark matter improves data fits but faces constraints from CMB limits.

Contribution

It introduces a flexible dark matter model with multiple annihilation channels and demonstrates its compatibility with AMS-02 data and astrophysical sources.

Findings

Dark matter contribution improves fit to cosmic ray data.

AMS-02 data are consistent with the dark matter hypothesis.

Model faces constraints from CMB limits.

Abstract

In this work we perform a comprehensive statistical analysis of the AMS-02 electron, positron fluxes and the antiproton-to-proton ratio in the context of a simplified dark matter model. We include known, standard astrophysical sources and a dark matter component in the cosmic ray injection spectra. To predict the AMS-02 observables we use propagation parameters extracted from observed fluxes of heavier nuclei and the low energy part of the AMS-02 data. We assume that the dark matter particle is a Majorana fermion coupling to third generation fermions via a spin-0 mediator, and annihilating to multiple channels at once. The simultaneous presence of various annihilation channels provides the dark matter model with additional flexibility, and this enables us to simultaneously fit all cosmic ray spectra using a simple particle physics model and coherent astrophysical assumptions. Our results indicate that AMS-02 observations are not only consistent with the dark matter hypothesis within the uncertainties, but adding a dark matter contribution improves the fit to the data. Assuming, however, that dark matter is solely responsible for this improvement of the fit, it is difficult to evade the latest CMB limits in this model.