The status of the galactic center gamma-ray excess

The Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess has a spectrum, angular distribution, and overall intensity that agree remarkably well with that expected from annihilating dark matter particles in the form of a $m_X \sim$ 50 GeV thermal relic. Previous claims that these photons are clustered on small angular s...

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Main Author: Dan Hooper
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SciPost 2023-07-01
Series:SciPost Physics Proceedings
Online Access:https://scipost.org/SciPostPhysProc.12.006
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author Dan Hooper
author_facet Dan Hooper
author_sort Dan Hooper
collection DOAJ
description The Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess has a spectrum, angular distribution, and overall intensity that agree remarkably well with that expected from annihilating dark matter particles in the form of a $m_X \sim$ 50 GeV thermal relic. Previous claims that these photons are clustered on small angular scales or trace the distribution of known stellar populations once appeared to favor interpretations in which this signal originates from a large population of unresolved millisecond pulsars. More recent work, however, has overturned these conclusions, finding that the observed gamma-ray excess does not contain discernible small scale power, and is distributed with approximate spherical symmetry, not tracing any known stellar populations. In light of these results, it now appears significantly more likely that the Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess is produced by annihilating dark matter.
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spelling doaj.art-45dceacb91e841078fd4e83ef62af4a92023-07-03T12:47:02ZengSciPostSciPost Physics Proceedings2666-40032023-07-011200610.21468/SciPostPhysProc.12.006The status of the galactic center gamma-ray excessDan HooperThe Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess has a spectrum, angular distribution, and overall intensity that agree remarkably well with that expected from annihilating dark matter particles in the form of a $m_X \sim$ 50 GeV thermal relic. Previous claims that these photons are clustered on small angular scales or trace the distribution of known stellar populations once appeared to favor interpretations in which this signal originates from a large population of unresolved millisecond pulsars. More recent work, however, has overturned these conclusions, finding that the observed gamma-ray excess does not contain discernible small scale power, and is distributed with approximate spherical symmetry, not tracing any known stellar populations. In light of these results, it now appears significantly more likely that the Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess is produced by annihilating dark matter.https://scipost.org/SciPostPhysProc.12.006
spellingShingle Dan Hooper
The status of the galactic center gamma-ray excess
SciPost Physics Proceedings
title The status of the galactic center gamma-ray excess
title_full The status of the galactic center gamma-ray excess
title_fullStr The status of the galactic center gamma-ray excess
title_full_unstemmed The status of the galactic center gamma-ray excess
title_short The status of the galactic center gamma-ray excess
title_sort status of the galactic center gamma ray excess
url https://scipost.org/SciPostPhysProc.12.006
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