Particle spectra from dark matter annihilation: physics modeling and QCD uncertainties

TL;DR

This paper examines the modeling of particle spectra from dark matter annihilation, focusing on the uncertainties introduced by QCD processes and their impact on indirect detection signals.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of QCD-related uncertainties in particle spectra modeling from dark matter annihilation, providing estimates for their effects on photon spectra.

Findings

QCD uncertainties significantly affect photon spectrum predictions

Uncertainty estimates vary across dark matter mass range

Guidelines for data retrieval from Zenodo provided

Abstract

In this talk, we discuss the physics modelling of particle spectra arising from dark matter (DM) annihilation or decay. In the context of the indirect searches of DM, the final state products will, in general, undergo a set of complicated processes such as resonance decays, QED/QCD radiation, hadronisation and hadron decays. This set of processes lead to stable particles (photons, positrons, anti-protons, and neutrinos among others) which travel for very long distances before reaching the detectors. The modelling of their spectra contains some uncertainties which are often neglected in the relevant analyses. We discuss the sources of these uncertainties and estimate their impact on photon energy spectra for benchmark DM scenarios with $m_\chi \in [10, 1000]\,$GeV. Instructions for how to retrieve complete tables from Zenodo are also provided.