Extragalactic Searches for Dark Matter Annihilation
Siddharth Mishra-Sharma

TL;DR
This paper develops novel statistical methods to analyze gamma-ray data, characterizing extragalactic point sources and constraining dark matter annihilation signals in extragalactic objects using Fermi satellite data.
Contribution
It introduces a new statistical technique for analyzing photon clumpiness and applies it to identify source populations, and constructs a pipeline to search for dark matter annihilation in extragalactic structures.
Findings
Most extragalactic gamma-ray emission is from unresolved point sources like active galactic nuclei.
Less room remains for dark matter contribution to gamma-ray signals.
The pipeline constrains dark matter annihilation signals in extragalactic galaxy groups.
Abstract
We are at the dawn of a data-driven era in astrophysics and cosmology. A large number of ongoing and forthcoming experiments combined with an increasingly open approach to data availability offer great potential in unlocking some of the deepest mysteries of the Universe. Among these is understanding the nature of dark matter (DM)---one of the major unsolved problems in particle physics. Characterizing DM through its astrophysical signatures will require a robust understanding of its distribution in the sky and the use of novel statistical methods. The first part of this thesis describes the implementation of a novel statistical technique which leverages the "clumpiness" of photons originating from point sources (PSs) to derive the properties of PS populations hidden in astrophysical datasets. This is applied to data from the Fermi satellite at high latitudes (\deg) to…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAstrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena · Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena · Scientific Research and Discoveries
