# AMS-02 antiprotons' consistency with a secondary astrophysical origin

## TL;DR

This paper presents a detailed prediction of antiproton fluxes from secondary astrophysical processes, demonstrating their consistency with AMS-02 data and highlighting challenges in achieving high-precision dark matter searches.

## Contribution

It introduces an improved method for calibrating cosmic-ray propagation models and provides a robust flux prediction accounting for uncertainties, supporting a secondary origin of antiprotons.

## Key findings

- AMS-02 antiproton data are consistent with secondary production.
- Uncertainties and correlations significantly impact flux predictions.
- Achieving percent-level precision in predictions remains challenging.

## Abstract

The AMS-02 experiment has ushered cosmic-ray physics into precision era. In a companion paper, we designed an improved method to calibrate propagation models on B/C data. Here we provide a robust prediction of the $\bar{p}$ flux, accounting for several sources of uncertainties and their correlations. Combined with a correlation matrix for the $\bar{p}$ data, we show that the latter are consistent with a secondary origin. This paper presents key elements relevant to the dark matter search in this channel, notably by pointing out the inherent difficulties in achieving predictions at the percent-level precision.