Dark Matter Particle Explorer observations of high-energy cosmic ray electrons plus positrons and their physical implications

TL;DR

DAMPE satellite measured high-energy cosmic ray electrons and positrons, revealing spectral features like softening and a tentative peak, providing insights into astrophysical sources and dark matter implications.

Contribution

This paper presents the first precise measurement of the cosmic ray electron and positron spectrum up to 4.6 TeV using DAMPE, including spectral features and their physical interpretations.

Findings

Spectral softening around 0.9 TeV

Tentative peak near 1.4 TeV

Implications for dark matter and astrophysics

Abstract

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is a satellite-borne, high-energy particle and $\gamma$-ray detector, which is dedicated to indirectly detecting particle dark matter and studying high-energy astrophysics. The first results about precise measurement of the cosmic ray electron plus positron spectrum between 25 GeV and 4.6 TeV were published recently. The DAMPE spectrum reveals an interesting spectral softening around $0.9$ TeV and a tentative peak around $1.4$ TeV. These results have inspired extensive discussion. The detector of DAMPE, the data analysis, and the first results are introduced. In particular, the physical interpretations of the DAMPE data are reviewed.