Related papers: Fundamental Physics from the Sky: Cosmic Rays, Gam…
Several cosmic ray experiments have measured excesses in electrons and positrons, relative to standard backgrounds, for energies from ~ 10 GeV - 1 TeV. These excesses could be due to new astrophysical sources, but an explanation in which…
We consider the process of scattering of Galactic cosmic-ray electrons and protons off of dark matter with the radiation of a final-state photon. This process provides a novel way to search for Galactic dark matter with gamma rays. We argue…
PAMELA's observation that the cosmic ray positron fraction increases rapidly with energy implies the presence of primary sources of energetic electron-positron pairs. Of particular interest is the possibility that dark matter annihilations…
Recently, it was suggested that the gamma rays observed by the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope from the direction of the galactic center could surprisingly well be described by a dark matter annihilation scenario, both in terms of their…
A number of signals involving charged cosmic rays and high-energy photons have been interpreted as being due to annihilating dark matter. This article provides an overview of the experimental evidence and discusses in particular detections…
A leading hypothesis for the nature of the elusive dark matter are thermally produced, weakly interacting massive particles that arise in many theories beyond the standard model of particle physics. Their self-annihilation in astrophysical…
In this work, we revisit the all-sky Galactic diffuse $\gamma$-ray emission taking into account the new measurements of cosmic ray electron/positron spectrum by PAMELA, ATIC and Fermi, which show excesses of cosmic electrons/positrons…
Recent observations of lepton cosmic rays, coming from the PAMELA and FERMI experiments, have pushed our understanding of the interstellar medium and cosmic rays sources to unprecedented levels. The imprint of dark matter on lepton cosmic…
Photons produced in the annihilations of dark matter particles can be detected by gamma-ray telescopes; this technique of indirect detection serves as a cornerstone of the upcoming assault on the dark matter paradigm. The main obstacle to…
Our understanding of the Universe today includes overwhelming observational evidence for the existence of an elusive form of matter that is generally referred to as dark. Although many theories have been developed to describe its nature,…
The Fermi Large Area Telescope has provided the measurement of the high energy (20 GeV to 1 TeV) cosmic ray electrons and positrons spectrum with unprecedented accuracy. This measurement represents a unique probe for studying the origin and…
Gamma-ray Astronomy studies cosmic accelerators through their electromagnetic radiation in the energy range between ~100 MeV and ~100 TeV. The present most sensitive observations in this energy band are performed, from space, by the Large…
We study the origin of the positron excess observed in the local cosmic-ray spectrum at high energies, and relate it to the cosmic rays and gamma-ray emission across the entire Galaxy. In particular, we explore the hypothesis of a single,…
The electron and positron cosmic rays puzzle has triggered a revolution in the field of astroparticle physics. Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the unexpected rise of the positron fraction, observed by HEAT and PAMELA…
The Large Area Telescope onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has collected the largest ever sample of high-energy cosmic-ray electron and positron events. Possible features in their energy spectrum could be a signature of the…
This review concentrates on the results obtained, over the last ten years, on the astrophysics of high-energy cosmic ray electrons and positrons. The anomalies, observed in the data of recent experiments (possible bump in the electron…
The nature of dark matter is one of the most pressing questions in modern cosmology. Much work has been focussed in the past upon probing potential particle dark matter via gamma-rays resulting from its annihilation or decay. These processs…
A series of experiments measuring high-energy cosmic rays have recently reported strong indications for the existence of an excess of high-energy electrons and positrons. If interpreted in terms of the decay of dark matter particles, the…
High-energy photons (above the MeV) are a powerful probe for astrophysics and for fundamental physics under extreme conditions. During the recent years, our knowledge of the high-energy gamma-ray sky has impressively progressed thanks to…
Recent results from the PAMELA satellite indicate the presence of a large flux of positrons (relative to electrons) in the cosmic ray spectrum between approximately 10 and 100 GeV. As annihilating dark matter particles in many models are…