What charged cosmic rays tell us on dark matter

TL;DR

This paper reviews how high-energy cosmic-ray antimatter species like positrons and antiprotons can provide indirect evidence for dark matter, discussing recent anomalies and their interpretations.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive overview of antimatter cosmic-ray signatures related to dark matter and critically assesses recent anomalies and their potential explanations.

Findings

Antiproton excess is not statistically significant after error analysis

Positron anomalies require further investigation

No conclusive dark matter signal detected in antimatter cosmic rays

Abstract

Dark matter particles could be the major component of the haloes of galaxies. Their mutual annihilations or decays would produce an indirect signature under the form of high-energy cosmic-rays. The focus of this presentation is on antimatter species, a component so rare that any excess over the background should be easily detected. After a recap on Galactic propagation, I will discuss positrons, antiprotons and anti-nuclei. For each of these species, anomalies have been reported. The antiproton excess, for instance, is currently a hot topic. Alas, it does not resist a correct treatment of theoretical and data errors.