Simplified dark matter models in the light of AMS-02 antiproton data

TL;DR

This paper analyzes AMS-02 antiproton data within simplified dark matter models, finding consistency with dark matter hypotheses and constraining dark matter and mediator masses and annihilation cross sections.

Contribution

It introduces a framework combining AMS-02 data with simplified dark matter models featuring leptophobic mediators, providing new constraints on dark matter properties.

Findings

AMS-02 data compatible with dark matter annihilation hypotheses.

Preferred dark matter mass range: 700 GeV--5 TeV for pseudoscalar mediator.

Effective annihilation cross sections: 1x10^{-25} to 1x10^{-24} cm^3/s.

Abstract

In this work we perform an analysis of the recent AMS-02 antiproton flux and the antiproton-to-proton ratio in the framework of simplified dark matter models. To predict the AMS-02 observables we adopt the propagation and injection parameters determined by the observed fluxes of nuclei. We assume that the dark matter particle is a Dirac fermionic dark matter, with leptophobic pseudoscalar or axialvector mediator that couples only to Standard Model quarks and dark matter particles. We find that the AMS-02 observations are consistent with the dark matter hypothesis within the uncertainties. The antiproton data prefer a dark matter (mediator) mass in the 700 GeV--5 TeV region for the annihilation with pseudoscalar mediator and greater than 700 GeV (200 GeV--1 TeV) for the annihilation with axialvector mediator, respectively, at about 68% confidence level. The AMS-02 data require an effective dark matter annihilation cross section in the region of 1x10^{-25} -- 1x10^{-24} (1x10^{-25} -- 4x10^{-24}) cm^3/s for the simplified model with pseudoscalar (axialvector) mediator. The constraints from the LHC and Fermi-LAT are also discussed.