English

Gamma-rays from Nearby Clusters: Constraints on Selected Decaying Dark Matter Models

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2011-03-28 v2 High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Abstract

Recently, the Fermi-LAT collaboration reported upper limits on the GeV gamma-ray flux from nearby clusters of galaxies. Motivated by these limits, we study corresponding constraints on gamma-ray emissions from two specific decaying dark matter models, one via grand unification scale suppressed operators and the other via R-parity violating operators. Both can account for the PAMELA and Fermi-LAT excesses of e^\pm. For GUT decaying dark matter, the gamma-rays from the M49 and Fornax clusters, with energy in the range of 1 to 10 GeV, lead to the most stringent constraints to date. As a result, this dark matter is disfavored with conventional model of e^\pm background. In addition, it is likely that some tension exists between the Fermi-LAT e^\pm excess and the gamma ray constraints for any decaying dark matter model, provided conventional model of e^\pm background is adopted. Nevertheless, the GUT decaying dark matter can still solely account for the PAMELA positron fraction excess without violating the gamma-ray constraints. For the gravitino dark matter model with R-parity violation, cluster observations do not give tight constraints. This is because a different e^\pm background has been adopted which leads to relatively light dark matter mass around 200 GeV.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1101.5878,
  title  = {Gamma-rays from Nearby Clusters: Constraints on Selected Decaying Dark Matter Models},
  author = {Jiwei Ke and Mingxing Luo and Liucheng Wang and Guohuai Zhu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1101.5878},
  year   = {2011}
}

Comments

17 pages, 4 figures, version to appear in Phys. Lett. B