Related papers: Particle Dark Matter Constraints from the Draco Dw…
The CACTUS experiment recently observed a gamma ray excess above 50 GeV from the direction of the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy. Considering that Draco is dark matter dominated the gamma rays may be generated through dark matter…
There is almost universal agreement among astronomers that most of the mass in the Universe and most of the mass in the Galactic halo is dark. Many lines of reasoning suggest that the dark matter consists of some new, as yet undiscovered,…
The CACTUS atmospheric Cherenkov telescope collaboration recently reported a gamma-ray excess from the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy. Draco features a very low gas content and a large mass-to-light ratio, suggesting as a possible…
Several ideas for new physics beyond the standard model may provide particle candidates for the dark matter in the Galactic halo. The two leading candidates are an axion and a weakly-interacting massive particle (WIMP), such as the…
The content of matter in the Universe is estimated to be the 27% of its critical density. It is almost universally accepted that most ot this matter is non-baryonic. Constraints from primordial nucleosynthesis and cosmic background…
We explore the possible signatures of dark matter (DM) pair annihilations in the nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxy Draco. After investigating the mass models for Draco in the light of available observational data, we carefully model the DM…
We investigate the possibility to detect neutralino dark matter in a scenario in which the galactic dark halo is clumpy. We find that under customary assumptions on various astrophysical parameters, the antiproton and continuum gamma-ray…
The annihilations of neutralino dark matter (or other dark matter candidate) generate, among other Standard Model states, electrons and positrons. These particles emit synchrotron photons as a result of their interaction with the Galactic…
In the indirect detection of dark matter through its annihilation products, the signals depend on the square of the dark matter density, making precise knowledge of the distribution of dark matter in the Universe critical for robust…
Dark Matter (DM) is a fundamental ingredient of our Universe and of structure formation, and yet its nature is elusive to astrophysical probes. Information on the nature and physical properties of the WIMP (neutralino) DM (the leading…
I will begin by reviewing the evidence for Dark Matter in the Universe, as well as the candidates for dark matter. At most 20% of the dark matter in galaxies can be in the form of MACHOs (Massive Compact Halo Objects); the remainder appears…
Recent studies have suggested the possibility that the lightest supersymmetric particle is a suitable dark matter candidate. In this theoretical framework, annihilations in high density environments like the center of dark matter haloes may…
Recent advances in N-body simulations of cold dark matter halos point to a substantial density enhancement near the center. This means that, e.g., the $\gamma$ ray signals from neutralino dark matter annihilations would be significantly…
After a short introduction on particle candidates for dark matter within possible extensions of the standard model, we concentrate on Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, and on one of their most interesting physical realizations: the…
Under the hypothesis of a Dark Matter composed by supersymmetric particles like neutralinos, we investigate the possibility that their annihilation in the haloes of nearby galaxies could produce detectable fluxes of $\gamma$-photons.…
The dwarf spheroidal galaxy Draco has long been considered likely to be one of the brightest point sources of gamma-rays generated through dark matter annihilations. Recent studies of this object have found that it remains largely intact…
High energy particles are produced by the annihilation of dark matter particles in our galaxy. These are presently searched for using balloon-borne antiproton and positron detectors and large area, deep underground neutrino telescopes. Dark…
The existence of dark matter was suggested, using simple gravitational arguments, seventy years ago. Although we are now convinced that most of the mass in the Universe is indeed some non-luminous matter, we still do not know its…
Neutrinos are the least detectable Standard Model particle. By making use of this fact, we consider dark matter annihilations and decays in the galactic halo and show how present and future neutrino detectors could be used to set general…
We present a short review of the status of the dark matter problem. In particular we show that one of the best motivated candidate for the dark matter is the neutralino, a supersymmetric particle. Finally we study the possibility to detect…