The EMU view of the Large Magellanic Cloud: Troubles for sub-TeV WIMPs

TL;DR

This study uses ASKAP radio observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud to search for WIMP dark matter signals, setting new constraints on WIMP properties by analyzing non-detections in radio frequencies.

Contribution

It provides the first radio-based constraints on WIMP annihilation in the LMC using deep ASKAP data, improving bounds on WIMP mass and annihilation channels.

Findings

Excluded WIMP masses below 480 GeV for certain channels.

Set upper limits on WIMP annihilation rates in the LMC.

Demonstrated the LMC as a promising target for radio dark matter searches.

Abstract

We present a radio search for WIMP dark matter in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We make use of a recent deep image of the LMC obtained from observations of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), and processed as part of the Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU) survey. LMC is an extremely promising target for WIMP searches at radio frequencies because of the large J-factor and the presence of a substantial magnetic field. We detect no evidence for emission arising from WIMP annihilations and derive stringent bounds on the annihilation rate as a function of the WIMP mass, for different annihilation channels. This work excludes the thermal cross section for masses below 480 GeV and annihilation into quarks.