Search

We employ a data-driven approach to investigate the rigidity and spatial dependence of the diffusion of cosmic rays in the turbulent magnetic field of the Milky Way. Our analysis combines data sets from the experiments Voyager, AMS-02, CALET, and DAMPE for a range of cosmic ray nuclei from protons to oxygen. Our findings favor models with a smooth behavior in the diffusion coefficient, indicating a good qualitative agreement with the predictions of self-generated magnetic turbulence models. Instead, the current cosmic-ray data do not exhibit a clear preference for or against inhomogeneous diffusion, which is also a prediction of these models. Future progress might be possible by combining cosmic-ray data with gamma rays or radio observations, enabling a more comprehensive exploration., Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures and 4 tables. This version matches the one published in the PRD journal

We present 294 pulsars found in GeV data from the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Another 33 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) discovered in deep radio searches of LAT sources will likely reveal pulsations once phase-connected rotation ephemerides are achieved. A further dozen optical and/or X-ray binary systems co-located with LAT sources also likely harbor gamma-ray MSPs. This catalog thus reports roughly 340 gamma-ray pulsars and candidates, 10% of all known pulsars, compared to $\leq 11$ known before Fermi. Half of the gamma-ray pulsars are young. Of these, the half that are undetected in radio have a broader Galactic latitude distribution than the young radio-loud pulsars. The others are MSPs, with 6 undetected in radio. Overall, >235 are bright enough above 50 MeV to fit the pulse profile, the energy spectrum, or both. For the common two-peaked profiles, the gamma-ray peak closest to the magnetic pole crossing generally has a softer spectrum. The spectral energy distributions tend to narrow as the spindown power $\dot E$ decreases to its observed minimum near $10^{33}$ erg s$^{-1}$, approaching the shape for synchrotron radiation from monoenergetic electrons. We calculate gamma-ray luminosities when distances are available. Our all-sky gamma-ray sensitivity map is useful for population syntheses. The electronic catalog version provides gamma-ray pulsar ephemerides, properties and fit results to guide and be compared with modeling results., Comment: 142 pages. Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal Supplement

We reconstruct the extra-galactic gamma-ray source-count distribution, or $dN/dS$, of resolved and unresolved sources by adopting machine learning techniques. Specifically, we train a convolutional neural network on synthetic 2-dimensional sky-maps, which are built by varying parameters of underlying source-counts models and incorporate the Fermi-LAT instrumental response functions. The trained neural network is then applied to the Fermi-LAT data, from which we estimate the source count distribution down to flux levels a factor of 50 below the Fermi-LAT threshold. We perform our analysis using 14 years of data collected in the $(1,10)$ GeV energy range. The results we obtain show a source count distribution which, in the resolved regime, is in excellent agreement with the one derived from catalogued sources, and then extends as $dN/dS \sim S^{-2}$ in the unresolved regime, down to fluxes of $5 \cdot 10^{-12}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$. The neural network architecture and the devised methodology have the flexibility to enable future analyses to study the energy dependence of the source-count distribution., Comment: 26 pages + Appendix, 28 figures

Dark Matter (DM) annihilation in our Galaxy may produce a linearly polarized synchrotron signal. We use, for the first time, synchrotron polarization to constrain the DM annihilation cross section by comparing theoretical predictions with the latest polarization maps obtained by the Planck satellite collaboration. We find that synchrotron polarization is typically more constraining than synchrotron intensity by about one order of magnitude, independently of uncertainties in the modeling of electron and positron propagation, or of the Galactic magnetic field. Our bounds compete with Cosmic Microwave Background limits in the case of leptophilic DM., Comment: 6+11 pages, 3+9 figures. Minor comments added, results unchanged. Matches the version accepted by PRL

The AMS-02 experiment has provided high-precision measurements of several cosmic-ray (CR) species. The achieved percent-level accuracy gives access to small spectral differences among the different species and, in turn, this allows scrutinizing the universality of CR acceleration, which is expected in the standard scenario of CR shock acceleration. While pre-AMS-02 data already indicated a violation of the universality between protons and helium, it is still an open question if at least helium and heavier nuclei can be reconciled. To address this issue, we performed a joint analysis using the AMS-02 CR measurements of antiprotons, protons, helium, helium 3, boron, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. We explore two competing propagation scenarios, one with a break in the diffusion coefficient at a few GVs and no reacceleration, and another one with reacceleration and with a break in the injection spectra of primaries. Furthermore, we explicitly consider the impact of the uncertainties in the nuclear production cross-sections of secondaries by including nuisance parameters in the fit. The resulting parameter space is explored with the help of Monte Carlo methods. We find that, contrary to the naive expectation, in the standard propagation scenarios CR universality is violated also for He, on the one hand, and C, N, and O, on the other hand, i.e., different injection slopes (at the level of $ \Delta \sim 0.05$) are required to explain the observed spectra. As an alternative, we explore further propagation scenarios, inspired by non-homogeneous diffusion, which might save universality. Finally, we also investigate the universality of CR propagation, i.e., we compare the propagation properties inferred using only light nuclei ($\bar{p}$, p, He, $^3$He) with the ones inferred using only heavier nuclei (B, C, N, O)., Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures; v2: results and conclusion unchanged; expanded introduction and discussion; matches accepted version by PRD

We analyze recent AMS-02 comic-ray measurements of Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen. The emphasis of the analysis is on systematic uncertainties related to propagation and nuclear cross sections. To investigate the uncertainties in the propagation scenario, we consider five different frameworks, differing with respect to the inclusion of a diffusion break at a few GV, the presence of reacceleration, and the presence of a break in the injection spectra of primaries. For each framework we fit the diffusion equations of cosmic rays and explore the parameter space with Monte Carlo methods. At the same time, the impact of the uncertainties in the nuclear production cross sections of secondaries is explicitly considered and included in the fit through the use of nuisance parameters. We find that all the considered frameworks are able to provide a good fit. In particular, two competing scenarios, one including a break in diffusion but no reacceleration and the other with reacceleration but no break in diffusion are both allowed. The inclusion of cross-section uncertainties is, however, crucial, to this result. Thus, at the moment, these uncertainties represent a fundamental systematic preventing a deeper understanding of the properties of CR propagation. We find, nonetheless, that the slope of diffusion at intermediate rigidities is robustly constrained in the range $\delta\simeq0.45-0.5$ in models without convection, or $\delta\simeq0.4-0.5$ if convection is included in the fit. Furthermore, we find that the use of the AMS-02 Beryllium data provides a lower limit on the vertical size of the Galactic propagation halo of $z_\mathrm{h}\gtrsim3$ kpc., Comment: 26 pages, 11 figures; v2: updated to the published version, results are unchanged

We present here a quantitative, accurate estimate of the impact of uncertainties of astrophysical nature on the determination of the dark matter distribution within our Galaxy, the Milky Way. Based on an update of a previous analysis, this work is motivated by recent new determinations of astrophysical quantities of relevance -- such as the Galactic parameters (R0,V0) -- from the GRAVITY collaboration and the GAIA satellite, respectively. We find that even with these state-of-the-art determination and a range of uncertainties -- both statistical and systematic -- much narrowed with respect to previous work, the uncertainties on the dark matter distribution and their impact on searches of physics beyond the standard model stays sizable., Comment: Version including analysis of Gaia Cepheids Rotation Curve, and updated plots

I provide a short review of the current status of indirect dark matter searches with gamma rays, charged cosmic rays and neutrinos. For each case I will focus on various excesses reported in the literature which have been interpreted as possible hints of dark matter, and I will use them as examples to discuss theoretical aspects and analysis methodologies., Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, contribution to the proceedings of the 16th TAUP conference, Sept. 9-13 2019, Toyama, Japan

Astrophysical observations currently provide the only robust, empirical measurements of dark matter. In the coming decade, astrophysical observations will guide other experimental efforts, while simultaneously probing unique regions of dark matter parameter space. This white paper summarizes astrophysical observations that can constrain the fundamental physics of dark matter in the era of LSST. We describe how astrophysical observations will inform our understanding of the fundamental properties of dark matter, such as particle mass, self-interaction strength, non-gravitational interactions with the Standard Model, and compact object abundances. Additionally, we highlight theoretical work and experimental/observational facilities that will complement LSST to strengthen our understanding of the fundamental characteristics of dark matter., Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, Science Whitepaper for Astro 2020, more information at https://lsstdarkmatter.github.io

Global fits of primary and secondary cosmic-ray (CR) fluxes measured by AMS-02 have great potential to study CR propagation models and search for exotic sources of antimatter such as annihilating dark matter (DM). Previous studies of AMS-02 antiprotons revealed a possible hint for a DM signal which, however, could be affected by systematic uncertainties. To test the robustness of such a DM signal, in this work we systematically study two important sources of uncertainties: the antiproton production cross sections needed to calculate the source spectra of secondary antiprotons and the potential correlations in the experimental data, so far not provided by the AMS-02 Collaboration. To investigate the impact of cross-section uncertainties we perform global fits of CR spectra including a covariance matrix determined from nuclear cross-section measurements. As an alternative approach, we perform a joint fit to both the CR and cross-section data. The two methods agree and show that cross-section uncertainties have a small effect on the CR fits and on the significance of a potential DM signal, which we find to be at the level of $3\sigma$. Correlations in the data can have a much larger impact. To illustrate this effect, we determine possible benchmark models for the correlations in a data-driven method. The inclusion of correlations strongly improves the constraints on the propagation model and, furthermore, enhances the significance of the DM signal up to above $5\sigma$. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of providing the covariance of the experimental data, which is needed to fully exploit their potential., Comment: 25 pages,12 figures; v2: Figs. 8 and 12 added, references added, minor improvements in presentation, matches published version

Astrophysical and cosmological observations currently provide the only robust, empirical measurements of dark matter. Future observations with Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will provide necessary guidance for the experimental dark matter program. This white paper represents a community effort to summarize the science case for studying the fundamental physics of dark matter with LSST. We discuss how LSST will inform our understanding of the fundamental properties of dark matter, such as particle mass, self-interaction strength, non-gravitational couplings to the Standard Model, and compact object abundances. Additionally, we discuss the ways that LSST will complement other experiments to strengthen our understanding of the fundamental characteristics of dark matter. More information on the LSST dark matter effort can be found at https://lsstdarkmatter.github.io/ ., Comment: 96 pages, 22 figures, 1 table

In this work we characterize the distribution of Dark Matter (DM) in the Milky Way (MW), and its uncertainties, adopting the well known "Rotation Curve" method. We perform a full marginalization over the uncertainties of the Galactic Parameters and over the lack of knowledge on the morphology of the baryonic components of the Galaxy. The local DM density rho0 is constrained to the range 0.3 - 0.8 GeV/cm3 at the 2 sigma level, and has a strong positive correlation to R0, the local distance from the Galactic Center (GC). The not well-known value of R0 is thus, at the moment, a major limitation in determining rho0. Similarly, we find that the inner slope of the DM profile, gamma, is very weakly constrained, showing no preference for a cored profile (gamma~0) or a cuspy one (gamma~[1.0,1.4]). Some combination of parameters can be, however, strongly constrained. For example the often used standard rho0=0.3 GeV/cm3, R0=8.5 kpc is excluded at more than 4 sigma. We release the full likelihood of our analysis in a tabular form over a multidimensional grid in the parameters characterizing the DM distribution, namely the scale radius Rs, the scale density rhos, the inner slope of the profile gamma, and R0. The likelihood can be used to include the effect of the DM distribution uncertainty on the results of searches for an indirect DM signal in gamma-rays or neutrinos, from the GC, or the Halo region surrounding it. As one example, we study the case of the GC excess in gamma rays. Further applications of our tabulated uncertainties in the DM distribution involve local DM searches, like direct detection and anti-matter observations, or global fits combining local and GC searches., Comment: Updated wrt published version, by including results for Burkert and Einasto profiles. Tabulated likelihoods for all cases available at https://github.com/mariabenitocst/UncertaintiesDMinTheMW

Observations of cosmic rays are a sensitive probe of dark matter annihilation in our Galaxy. In this article we present an analysis of the AMS-02 antiproton data, reducing cosmic-ray propagation uncertainties by fitting at the same time dark matter and propagation parameters. The result exhibits a possible hint for dark matter pointing to an annihilation cross section close to the thermal value. We investigate the compatibility of this signal with a dark matter interpretation of the Galactic center excess seen in the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray data and discuss implications for dark matter models., Comment: Contribution to the proceedings of the EPS Conference on High Energy Physics (EPS-HEP) 2017; 5 pages + references, 2 figures

Cosmic-ray observations provide a powerful probe of dark matter annihilation in the Galaxy. In this paper we derive constraints on heavy dark matter from the recent precise AMS-02 antiproton data. We consider all possible annihilation channels into pairs of standard model particles. Furthermore, we interpret our results in the context of minimal dark matter, including higgsino, wino and quintuplet dark matter. We compare the cosmic-ray antiproton limits to limits from $\gamma$-ray observations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies and to limits from $\gamma$-ray and $\gamma$-line observations towards the Galactic center. While the latter limits are highly dependent on the dark matter density distribution and only exclude a thermal wino for cuspy profiles, the cosmic-ray limits are more robust, strongly disfavoring the thermal wino dark matter scenario even for a conservative estimate of systematic uncertainties., Comment: 14 pages + references, 5 figures; v2: HESS limits added in Fig. 2, matches published version

We derive updated constraints on the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect through cross-correlation of the cosmic microwave background with galaxy surveys. We improve with respect to similar previous analyses in several ways. First, we use the most recent versions of extragalactic object catalogs: SDSS DR12 photometric redshift (photo-$z$) and 2MASS Photo-$z$ datasets, as well as employed earlier for ISW, SDSS QSO photo-$z$ and NVSS samples. Second, we use for the first time the WISE~$\times$~SuperCOSMOS catalog, which allows us to perform an all-sky analysis of the ISW up to $z\sim0.4$. Third, thanks to the use of photo-$z$s, we separate each dataset into different redshift bins, deriving the cross-correlation in each bin. This last step leads to a significant improvement in sensitivity. We remove cross-correlation between catalogs using masks which mutually exclude common regions of the sky. We use two methods to quantify the significance of the ISW effect. In the first one, we fix the cosmological model, derive linear galaxy biases of the catalogs, and then evaluate the significance of the ISW using a single parameter. In the second approach we perform a global fit of the ISW and of the galaxy biases varying the cosmological model. We find significances of the ISW in the range 4.7-5.0 $\sigma$ thus reaching, for the first time in such an analysis, the threshold of 5 $\sigma$. Without the redshift tomography we find a significance of $\sim$ 4.0 $\sigma$, which shows the importance of the binning method. Finally we use the ISW data to infer constraints on the Dark Energy redshift evolution and equation of state. We find that the redshift range covered by the catalogs is still not optimal to derive strong constraints, although this goal will be likely reached using future datasets such as from Euclid, LSST, and SKA., Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, 8 tables, 2 appendices; v2: minor changes, matches version published in PRD; ISW likelihood code is available within the new release of MontePython (see arXiv:1804.07261 )

We investigate the nature of the extragalactic unresolved gamma-ray background (UGRB) by cross-correlating several galaxy catalogs with sky-maps of the UGRB built from 78 months of Pass 8 Fermi-Large Area Telescope data. This study updates and improves similar previous analyses in several aspects. Firstly, the use of a larger gamma-ray dataset allows us to investigate the energy dependence of the cross-correlation in more detail, using up to 8 energy bins over a wide energy range of [0.25-500] GeV. Secondly, we consider larger and deeper catalogs (2MASS Photometric-Redshift catalog, 2MPZ; WISE x SuperCOSMOS, WISC; and SDSS-DR12 photometric-redshift dataset) in addition to the ones employed in the previous studies (NVSS and SDSS-QSOs). Thirdly, we exploit the redshift information available for the above catalogs to divide them into redshift bins and perform the cross-correlation separately in each of them. Our results confirm, with higher statistical significance, the detection of cross-correlation signal between the UGRB maps and all the catalogs considered, on angular scales smaller than 1 degree. Significances range from 16.3 sigma for NVSS, 7 sigma for SDSS-DR12 and WISC, 5 sigma for 2MPZ and 4 sigma for SDSS-QSOs. Furthermore, including redshift tomography, the significance of the SDSS-DR12 signal strikingly rises up to 12 sigma and the one of WISC to 10.6 sigma. We offer a simple interpretation of the signal in the framework of the halo model. The precise redshift and energy information allows us to clearly detect a change over redshift in the spectral and clustering behavior of the gamma-ray sources contributing to the UGRB., Comment: 19 pages, 18 figures, 3 tables + 2 appendices; Published in ApJS

A possible hint of dark matter annihilation has been found in Cuoco, Korsmeier and Kr\"amer (2017) from an analysis of recent cosmic-ray antiproton data from AMS-02 and taking into account cosmic-ray propagation uncertainties by fitting at the same time dark matter and propagation parameters. Here, we extend this analysis to a wider class of annihilation channels. We find consistent hints of a dark matter signal with an annihilation cross-section close to the thermal value and with masses in range between 40 and 130 GeV depending on the annihilation channel. Furthermore, we investigate in how far the possible signal is compatible with the Galactic center gamma-ray excess and recent observation of dwarf satellite galaxies by performing a joint global fit including uncertainties in the dark matter density profile. As an example, we interpret our results in the framework of the Higgs portal model., Comment: 12 pages + references, 4 figures, v2: References added, minor changes in presentation, matches journal version

We report the detection of a cross-correlation signal between {\it Fermi} Large Area Telescope diffuse gamma-ray maps and catalogs of clusters. In our analysis, we considered three different catalogs: WHL12, redMaPPer and PlanckSZ. They all show a positive correlation with different amplitudes, related to the average mass of the objects in each catalog, which also sets the catalog bias. The signal detection is confirmed by the results of a stacking analysis. The cross-correlation signal extends to rather large angular scales, around 1 degree, that correspond, at the typical redshift of the clusters in these catalogs, to a few to tens of Mpc, i.e. the typical scale-length of the large scale structures in the Universe. Most likely this signal is contributed by the cumulative emission from AGNs associated to the filamentary structures that converge toward the high peaks of the matter density field in which galaxy clusters reside. In addition, our analysis reveals the presence of a second component, more compact in size and compatible with a point-like emission from within individual clusters. At present, we cannot distinguish between the two most likely interpretations for such a signal, i.e. whether it is produced by AGNs inside clusters or if it is a diffuse gamma-ray emission from the intra-cluster medium. We argue that this latter, intriguing, hypothesis might be tested by applying this technique to a low redshift large mass cluster sample., Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures; accepted for publication in ApJS

The astrophysical sources responsible for ultra high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) continue to be one of the most intriguing mysteries in astrophysics. We present a comprehensive search for correlations between high-energy ($\gtrapprox 1$ GeV) gamma-ray events from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and UHECRs ($\gtrapprox 60$ EeV) detected by the Telescope Array and the Pierre Auger Observatory. We perform two separate searches. First, we conduct a standard cross-correlation analysis between the arrival directions of 148 UHECRs and 360 gamma-ray sources in the Second Catalog of Hard Fermi-LAT sources (2FHL). Second, we search for a possible correlation between UHECR directions and unresolved Fermi-LAT gamma-ray emission. For the latter, we use three different methods: a stacking technique with both a model-dependent and model-independent background estimate, and a cross-correlation function analysis. We also test for statistically significant excesses in gamma rays from signal regions centered on Cen A and the Telescope Array hotspot. No significant correlation is found in any of the analyses performed, except a weak ($\lessapprox 2\sigma$) hint of signal with the correlation function method on scales $\sim 1^\circ$. Upper limits on the flux of possible power-law gamma-ray sources of UHECRs are derived., Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures, accepted in JCAP

We evaluate dark matter (DM) limits from cosmic-ray antiproton observations using the recent precise AMS-02 measurements. We properly take into account cosmic-ray propagation uncertainties fitting at the same time DM and propagation parameters, and marginalizing over the latter. We find a significant (~4.5 sigma) indication of a DM signal for DM masses near 80 GeV, with a hadronic annihilation cross-section close to the thermal value, sigma v ~3e-26 cm3s-1. Intriguingly, this signal is compatible with the DM interpretation of the Galactic center gamma-ray excess. Confirmation of the signal will require a more accurate study of the systematic uncertainties, i.e., the antiproton production cross-section, and modelling of the solar modulation effect. Interpreting the AMS-02 data in terms of upper limits on hadronic DM annihilation, we obtain strong constraints excluding a thermal annihilation cross-section for DM masses below about 50 GeV and in the range between approximately 150 and 500 GeV, even for conservative propagation scenarios. Except for the range around 80 GeV, our limits are a factor 4 stronger than the limits from gamma-ray observations of dwarf galaxies., Comment: 6 pages + 3 of supplemental material, 7 figures, 1 tables. Matches version published on physical review letters

The isotropic gamma-ray background arises from the contribution of unresolved sources, including members of confirmed source classes and proposed gamma-ray emitters such as the radiation induced by dark matter annihilation and decay. Clues about the properties of the contributing sources are imprinted in the anisotropy characteristics of the gamma-ray background. We use 81 months of Pass 7 Reprocessed data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope to perform a measurement of the anisotropy angular power spectrum of the gamma-ray background. We analyze energies between 0.5 and 500 GeV, extending the range considered in the previous measurement based on 22 months of data. We also compute, for the first time, the cross-correlation angular power spectrum between different energy bins. We find that the derived angular spectra are compatible with being Poissonian, i.e. constant in multipole. Moreover, the energy dependence of the anisotropy suggests that the signal is due to two populations of sources, contributing, respectively, below and above 2 GeV. Finally, using data from state-of-the-art numerical simulations to model the dark matter distribution, we constrain the contribution from dark matter annihilation and decay in Galactic and extragalactic structures to the measured anisotropy. These constraints are competitive with those that can be derived from the average intensity of the isotropic gamma-ray background. Data are available at https://www-glast.stanford.edu/pub_data/552., Comment: 51 pages, 39 figures. Data are available at https://www-glast.stanford.edu/pub_data/552

We present novel constraints on cosmic-ray propagation in the Galaxy using the recent precise measurements of proton and helium spectra from AMS-02, together with preliminary AMS-02 data on the antiproton over proton ratio. To explore efficiently the large (up to eleven-dimensional) parameter space we employ the nested-sampling algorithm as implemented in the \textsc{MultiNest} package, interfaced with the \textsc{Galprop} code to compute the model-predicted spectra. We use VOYAGER proton and helium data, sampling the local inter-stellar spectra, to constrain the solar modulation potential. We find that the turbulence of the Galactic magnetic field is well constrained, i.e., $\delta=0.30^{+0.03}_{-0.02}(stat)^{+0.10}_{-0.04}(sys)$, with uncertainties dominated by systematic effects. Systematic uncertainties are determined checking the robustness of the results to the minimum rigidity cut used to fit the data (from 1 GV to 5 GV), to the propagation scenario (convection vs no-convection), and to the uncertainties in the knowledge of the antiproton production cross section. Convection and reaccelaration are found to be degenerate and not well-constrained singularly when using data above 5 GV. Using data above 1 GV reacceleration is required, $v_{\rm A}=25\pm2$km/s, although this value might be significantly affected by the low energy systematic uncertainty in the solar modulation. In a forthcoming companion paper, we investigate the constraints imposed by AMS-02 measurements on lithium, boron, and carbon., Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables; V3: Updated to the final PRD version

Statistical properties of photon count maps have recently been proven as a new tool to study the composition of the gamma-ray sky with high precision. We employ the 1-point probability distribution function of 6 years of Fermi-LAT data to measure the source-count distribution dN/dS and the diffuse components of the high-latitude gamma-ray sky as a function of energy. To that aim, we analyze the gamma-ray emission in five adjacent energy bands between 1 GeV and 171 GeV. It is demonstrated that the source-count distribution as a function of flux is compatible with a broken power law up to energies of ~50 GeV. The index below the break is between 1.95 and 2.0. For higher energies, a simple power-law fits the data, with an index of 2.2^{+0.7}_{-0.3} in the energy band between 50 GeV and 171 GeV. Upper limits on further possible breaks as well as the angular power of unresolved sources are derived. We find that point-source populations probed by this method can explain 83^{+7}_{-13}% (81^{+52}_{-19}%) of the extragalactic gamma-ray background between 1.04 GeV and 1.99 GeV (50 GeV and 171 GeV). The method has excellent capabilities for constraining the gamma-ray luminosity function and the spectra of unresolved blazars., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables; v2: minor changes, accepted for publication in ApJL

The nature of dark matter is a longstanding enigma of physics; it may consist of particles beyond the Standard Model that are still elusive to experiments. Among indirect search techniques, which look for stable products from the annihilation or decay of dark matter particles, or from axions coupling to high-energy photons, observations of the $\gamma$-ray sky have come to prominence over the last few years, because of the excellent sensitivity of the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission. The LAT energy range from 20 MeV to above 300 GeV is particularly well suited for searching for products of the interactions of dark matter particles. In this report we describe methods used to search for evidence of dark matter with the LAT, and review the status of searches performed with up to six years of LAT data. We also discuss the factors that determine the sensitivities of these searches, including the magnitudes of the signals and the relevant backgrounds, considering both statistical and systematic uncertainties. We project the expected sensitivities of each search method for 10 and 15 years of LAT data taking. In particular, we find that the sensitivity of searches targeting dwarf galaxies, which provide the best limits currently, will improve faster than the square root of observing time. Current LAT limits for dwarf galaxies using six years of data reach the thermal relic level for masses up to 120 GeV for the $b\bar{b}$ annihilation channel for reasonable dark matter density profiles. With projected discoveries of additional dwarfs, these limits could extend to about 250 GeV. With as much as 15 years of LAT data these searches would be sensitive to dark matter annihilations at the thermal relic cross section for masses to greater than 400 GeV (200 GeV) in the $b\bar{b}$ ($\tau^+ \tau^-$) annihilation channels., Comment: Updated with a few additional and corrected references; otherwise, text is identical to previous version. Submitted on behalf of the Fermi-LAT collaboration. Accepted for publication in Physics Reports, 59 pages, 34 figures; corresponding author: Eric Charles (echarles@slac.stanford.edu)

We analyse the excess in the $\gamma$-ray emission from the center of our galaxy observed by Fermi-LAT in terms of dark matter annihilation within the scalar Higgs portal model. In particular, we include the astrophysical uncertainties from the dark matter distribution and allow for unspecified additional dark matter components. We demonstrate through a detailed numerical fit that the strength and shape of the $\gamma$-ray spectrum can indeed be described by the model in various regions of dark matter masses and couplings. Constraints from invisible Higgs decays, direct dark matter searches, indirect searches in dwarf galaxies and for $\gamma$-ray lines, and constraints from the dark matter relic density reduce the parameter space to dark matter masses near the Higgs resonance. We find two viable regions: one where the Higgs-dark matter coupling is of ${\cal O}(10^{-2})$, and an additional dark matter component beyond the scalar WIMP of our model is preferred, and one region where the Higgs-dark matter coupling may be significantly smaller, but where the scalar WIMP constitutes a significant fraction or even all of dark matter. Both viable regions are hard to probe in future direct detection and collider experiments., Comment: 20 pages + references, 12 figures; v2: minor changes in presentation, references added, improved scan coverage and updated plots in figs. 6, 8, 9, 10 and 12 accordingly, conclusions unchanged, matches journal version

The source-count distribution as a function of their flux, dN/dS, is one of the main quantities characterizing gamma-ray source populations. We employ statistical properties of the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) photon counts map to measure the composition of the extragalactic gamma-ray sky at high latitudes (|b|>30 deg) between 1 GeV and 10 GeV. We present a new method, generalizing the use of standard pixel-count statistics, to decompose the total observed gamma-ray emission into (a) point-source contributions, (b) the Galactic foreground contribution, and (c) a truly diffuse isotropic background contribution. Using the 6-year Fermi-LAT data set (P7REP), we show that the dN/dS distribution in the regime of so far undetected point sources can be consistently described with a power law of index between 1.9 and 2.0. We measure dN/dS down to an integral flux of ~2x10^{-11} cm^{-2}s^{-1}, improving beyond the 3FGL catalog detection limit by about one order of magnitude. The overall dN/dS distribution is consistent with a broken power law, with a break at 2.1^{+1.0}_{-1.3}x10^{-8} cm^{-2}s^{-1}. The power-law index n_1=3.1^{+0.7}_{-0.5} for bright sources above the break hardens to n_2=1.97+-0.03 for fainter sources below the break. A possible second break of the dN/dS distribution is constrained to be at fluxes below 6.4x10^{-11} cm^{-2}s^{-1} at 95% confidence level. The high-latitude gamma-ray sky between 1 GeV and 10 GeV is shown to be composed of ~25% point sources, ~69.3% diffuse Galactic foreground emission, and ~6% isotropic diffuse background., Comment: 28 pages, 20 figures, 6 tables; v2: minor changes and additions, accepted for publication in ApJS

We compare the measured angular cross-correlation between the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray sky and catalogues of extra-galactic objects with the expected signal induced by weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter (DM). We include a detailed description of the contribution of astrophysical gamma-ray emitters such as blazars, misaligned AGN and star forming galaxies, and perform a global fit to the measured cross-correlation. Five catalogues are considered: SDSS-DR6 quasars, 2MASS galaxies, NVSS radio galaxies, SDSS-DR8 Luminous Red Galaxies and SDSS-DR8 main galaxy sample. To model the cross-correlation signal we use the halo occupation distribution formalism to estimate the number of galaxies of a given catalogue in DM halos and their spatial correlation properties. We discuss uncertainties in the predicted cross-correlation signal arising from the DM clustering and WIMP microscopic properties, which set the DM gamma-ray emission. The use of different catalogues probing objects at different redshifts reduces significantly, though not completely, the degeneracy among the different gamma-ray components. We find that the presence of a significant WIMP DM signal is allowed by the data but not significantly preferred by the fit, although this is mainly due to a degeneracy with the misaligned AGN component. With modest substructure boost, the sensitivity of this method excludes thermal annihilation cross sections at 95% C.L. for WIMP masses up to few tens of GeV. Constraining the low-redshift properties of astrophysical populations with future data will further improve the sensitivity to DM., Comment: 24 pages, 19 figures, 2 tables, 4 appendices. V2:updated to match published version in ApJS

If dark matter (DM) is composed by particles which are non-gravitationally coupled to ordinary matter, their annihilations or decays in cosmic structures can result in detectable radiation. We show that the most powerful technique to detect a particle DM signal outside the Local Group is to study the angular cross-correlation of non-gravitational signals with low-redshift gravitational probes. This method allows to enhance signal-to-noise from the regions of the Universe where the DM-induced emission is preferentially generated. We demonstrate the power of this approach by focusing on GeV-TeV DM and on the recent cross-correlation analysis between the 2MASS galaxy catalogue and the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray maps. We show that this technique is more sensitive than other extragalactic gamma-ray probes, such as the energy spectrum and angular autocorrelation of the extragalactic background, and emission from clusters of galaxies. Intriguingly, we find that the measured cross-correlation can be well fitted by a DM component, with thermal annihilation cross section and mass between 10 and 100 GeV, depending on the small-scale DM properties and gamma-ray production mechanism. This solicits further data collection and dedicated analyses., Comment: 6+3 pages, 6+3 figures; v2: corrected a typo and added a ref. v3: minor changes in the main text, Supplemental Material added, to appear in PRL

Building on our previous cross-correlation analysis (Xia et al. 2011) between the isotropic gamma-ray background (IGRB) and different tracers of the large-scale structure of the universe, we update our results using 60-months of data from the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. We perform a cross-correlation analysis between the IGRB and objects that may trace the astrophysical sources of the IGRB: SDSS-DR6 QSOs, the SDSS-DR8 Main Galaxy Sample, Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) in the SDSS catalog, 2MASS galaxies, and radio NVSS galaxies. The benefit of correlating the Fermi-LAT signal with catalogs of objects at various redshifts is to provide tomographic information on the IGRB which is crucial to separate the various contributions and to clarify its origin. We observe a significant (>3.5 sigma) cross-correlation signal on angular scales smaller than 1 deg in the NVSS, 2MASS and QSO cases and, at lower statistical significance (~3.0 sigma), with SDSS galaxies. These results are robust against the choice of the statistical estimator, estimate of errors, map cleaning procedure and instrumental effects. Finally, we test the hypothesis that the IGRB observed by Fermi-LAT originates from the summed contributions of three types of unresolved extragalactic sources: BL Lacs, FSRQs and Star-Forming Galaxies (SFGs). We find that a model in which the IGRB is mainly produced by SFGs ($72^{+23}_{-37}$% with 2 sigma errors), with BL Lacs and FSRQs giving a minor contribution, provides a good fit to the data. We also consider a possible contribution from Misaligned Active Galactic Nuclei, and we find that, depending on the details of the model and its uncertainty, they can also provide a substantial contribution, partly degenerate with the SFG one. (abridged), Comment: 27 pages, 21 figures, 5 tables, Astrophysical Journal Supplement, in Press, pre-proof version

Radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) are expected to contribute substantially to both the intensity and anisotropy of the isotropic gamma-ray background (IGRB). In turn, the measured properties of the IGRB can be used to constrain the characteristics of proposed contributing source classes. We consider individual subclasses of radio-loud AGN, including low-, intermediate-, and high-synchrotron-peaked BL Lacertae objects, flat-spectrum radio quasars, and misaligned AGN. Using updated models of the gamma-ray luminosity functions of these populations, we evaluate the energy-dependent contribution of each source class to the intensity and anisotropy of the IGRB. We find that collectively radio-loud AGN can account for the entirety of the IGRB intensity and anisotropy as measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Misaligned AGN provide the bulk of the measured intensity but a negligible contribution to the anisotropy, while high-synchrotron-peaked BL Lacertae objects provide the dominant contribution to the anisotropy. In anticipation of upcoming measurements with the Fermi-LAT and the forthcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array, we predict the anisotropy in the broader energy range that will be accessible to future observations., Comment: 27 pages, 29 figures. This version matches the published version, minor changes only

We study diffuse gamma-ray emission at intermediate Galactic latitudes measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope with the aim of searching for a signal from dark matter annihilation or decay. In the absence of a robust dark matter signal, we set conservative dark matter limits requiring that the dark matter signal does not exceed the observed diffuse gamma-ray emission. A second set of more stringent limits is derived based on modeling the foreground astrophysical diffuse emission. Uncertainties in the height of the diffusive cosmic-ray halo, the distribution of the cosmic-ray sources in the Galaxy, the cosmic-ray electron index of the injection spectrum and the column density of the interstellar gas are taken into account using a profile likelihood formalism, while the parameters governing the cosmic-ray propagation have been derived from fits to local cosmic-ray data. The resulting limits impact the range of particle masses over which dark matter thermal production in the early Universe is possible, and challenge the interpretation of the PAMELA/Fermi-LAT cosmic ray anomalies as annihilation of dark matter., Comment: Invited talk at the 'SciNeGHE 2012', to appear in the Conference Proceedings

In this article, the capability of present (H.E.S.S., MAGIC, VERITAS) and planned (CTA) ground-based Cherenkov telescope systems for detecting angular anisotropies in the diffuse gamma-ray background is investigated. Following up on a study of the impact of instrumental characteristics (effective area, field of view, angular resolution, and background rejection efficiency), the first part examines the influence of different observational strategies, i.e. whether a single deep observation or a splitting over multiple shallow fields is preferred. In the second part, the sensitivity to anisotropies generated by self-annihilating dark matter is studied for different common dark matter models. We find that a relative contribution of ~10% from dark matter annihilation to the extra-galactic diffuse gamma-ray background can be detected with planned configurations of CTA. In terms of the thermally-averaged self-annihilation cross section, the sensitivity of CTA corresponds to values below the thermal freeze-out expectation = 3 x 10-26 cm3s-1 for dark matter particles lighter than ~200 GeV. We stress the importance of constraining anisotropies from unresolved astrophysical sources with currently operating instruments already, as a novel and complementary method for investigating the properties of TeV sources., Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables; v2: new paragraphs and figures added. Improvements in clarity of the text and readability of the figures. Conclusions unchanged. Matches published version on JCAP

We place new constraints on the contribution of blazars to the large-scale isotropic gamma-ray background (IGRB) by jointly analyzing the measured source count distribution (logN-logS) of blazars and the measured intensity and anisotropy of the IGRB. We find that these measurements point to a consistent scenario in which unresolved blazars make less than 20% of the IGRB intensity at 1-10 GeV while accounting for the majority of the measured anisotropy in that energy band. These results indicate that the remaining fraction of the IGRB intensity is made by a component with a low level of intrinsic anisotropy. We determine upper limits on the anisotropy from non-blazar sources, adopting the best-fit parameters of the measured source count distribution to calculate the unresolved blazar anisotropy. In addition, we show that the anisotropy measurement excludes some recently proposed models of the unresolved blazar population., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. v2: new section (Sec.III) and 2 figures added. Expanded discussions in the other sections. Results and conclusions unchanged. New Section III is also a reply to the comment of Harding & Abazajian arXiv:1204.3870 on this work

In this work, starting from 21 months of data from the Fermi-Large Area Telescope, we derive maps of the residual isotropic gamma-ray emission, a relevant fraction of which is expected to be contributed by the extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray background. We compute the angular two-point auto-correlation function of the residual Fermi-LAT maps at energies E>1GeV, E>3GeV and E>30GeV well above the Galactic plane and find no significant correlation signal. This is, indeed, what is expected if the EGB were contributed by BL Lacertae, Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars or star-forming galaxies, since, in this case, the predicted signal is very weak. Then, we search for the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe signature by cross-correlating the Fermi-LAT maps with the WMAP7-Cosmic Microwave Background map. We find a cross-correlation consistent with zero, even though the expected signal is larger than that of the EGB auto-correlation. Finally, in an attempt to constrain the nature of the gamma-ray background we cross-correlate the Fermi-LAT maps with the angular distributions of objects that may contribute to the EGB: QSOs in the SDSS-DR6 catalog, NVSS galaxies, 2MASS galaxies and LRG in the SDSS catalog. The cross-correlation is always consistent with zero, in agreement with theoretical expectations, but we find (with low statistical significance) some interesting features that may indicate that some specific classes of objects contribute to the EGB. A chi2 analysis confirms that the correlation properties of the 21-month data do not provide strong constraints of the EGB origin. However, the results suggest that the situation will significantly improve with the 5- and 10-year Fermi-LAT data. The future EGB analysis will then allow placing significant constraints on the nature of the EGB and might provide in addition a detection of the ISW signal. (Abridged), Comment: 18 pages, 23 figures, 2 tables, MNRAS in press

The diffuse gamma ray emission from astrophysical backgrounds in our Galaxy and the signal due to the annihilation or decay of Dark Matter (DM) in the Galactic Halo are expected to have a substantially different morphology and spectral signatures. In order to exploit this feature we perform a full sky and spectral binned likelihood fit of both components, using data collected during the first 21 months of operation of the Fermi-LAT observatory. Preliminary constraints are presented on the DM annihilation cross section and decaying rate for various masses and annihilation/decay modes., Comment: Contribution to the IDM 2010 conference proceedings

We study the dipole anisotropy in the arrival directions of high energy CR electrons and positrons (CRE) of Dark Matter (DM) origin. We show that this quantity is very weakly model dependent and offers a viable criterion to discriminate among CRE from DM or from local discrete sources, like e.g. pulsars. In particular, we find that the maximum anisotropy which DM can provide is to a very good approximation a universal quantity and, as a consequence, if a larger anisotropy is detected, this would constitute a strong evidence for the presence of astrophysical local discrete CRE sources, whose anisotropy, instead, can be naturally larger than the DM upper limit. We further find that the main source of anisotropy from DM is given by the fluctuation in the number density of DM sub-structures in the vicinity of the observer and we thus devote special attention to the study of the variance in the sub-structures realization implementing a dedicated Montecarlo simulation. Such scenarios will be probed in the next years by Fermi-LAT, providing new hints, or constraints, about the nature of DM., Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures

An interesting strategy for indirect detection of Dark Matter comes through the amounts of electrons and positrons usually emitted by DM pair annihilation. The e+e- gyrating in the galactic magnetic field then produce secondary synchrotron radiation. The radio emission from the galactic halo as well as from its expected substructures if compared with the measured diffuse radio background can provide constraints on the physics of WIMPs. In particular one gets the bound of = 10^{-24} cm^3 s^{-1} for a DM mass m_chi = 100 GeV even though sensibly depending on the astrophysical uncertainties., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceeding of CHRIS 2008, "Origin, Mass Composition and Acceleration Mechanisms of UHECRs"

Annihilation of Dark Matter usually produces together with gamma rays comparable amounts of electrons and positrons. The e+e- gyrating in the galactic magnetic field then produce secondary synchrotron radiation which thus provides an indirect mean to constrain the DM signal itself. To this purpose, we calculate the radio emission from the galactic halo as well as from its expected substructures and we then compare it with the measured diffuse radio background. We employ a multi-frequency approach using data in the relevant frequency range 100 MHz-100 GHz, as well as the WMAP Haze data at 23 GHz. The derived constraints are of the order =10^{-24} cm3 s^{-1} for a DM mass m_chi=100 GeV sensibly depending however on the astrophysical uncertainties, in particular on the assumption on the galactic magnetic field model. The signal from single bright clumps is instead largely attenuated by diffusion effects and offers only poor detection perspectives., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures; v2: some references added, some discussions enlarged; matches journal version

The Pierre Auger collaboration has reported a correlation between Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) and nearby Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) within 75 Mpc. Two of these events fall within 3 degrees from Centaurus A, the nearest AGN, clearly suggesting that this object is a strong UHECR emitter. Here we pursue this hypothesis and forecast the expected rate of ultra-high energy neutrinos in detectors like IceCube. In our baseline model we find a rate of 0.4--0.6 yr^-1 events above a threshold of 100 TeV, the uncertainty of which is mainly related to the poor knowledge of the physical parameters of the source and on the details of the model. This situation will improve with detailed high energy gamma ray measurements of Cen A by the upcoming GLAST satellite. This would make Cen A the first example where the potential of high energy multi-messenger astronomy is finally realized., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 table; enlarged discussion; matches published version

The extragalactic cosmic gamma-ray background (CGB) is an interesting channel to look for signatures of dark matter annihilation. In particular, besides the imprint in the energy spectrum, peculiar anisotropy patterns are expected compared to the case of a pure astrophysical origin of the CGB. We take into account the uncertainties in the dark matter clustering properties on sub-galactic scales, deriving two possible anisotropy scenarios. A clear dark matter angular signature is achieved when the annihilation signal receives only a moderate contribution from sub-galactic clumps and/or cuspy haloes. Experimentally, if galactic foregrounds systematics are efficiently kept under control, the angular differences are detectable with the forthcoming GLAST observatory, provided that the annihilation signal contributes to the CGB for a fraction >10-20%. If, instead, sub-galactic structures have a more prominent role, the astrophysical and dark matter anisotropies become degenerate, correspondingly diluting the DM signature. As complementary observables we also introduce the cross-correlation between surveys of galaxies and the CGB and the cross-correlation between different energy bands of the CGB and we find that they provide a further sensitive tool to detect the dark matter angular signatures., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures; improved discussion; matches published version

The arrival directions of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) may show anisotropies on all scales, from just above the experimental angular resolution up to medium scales and dipole anisotropies. We find that a global comparison of the two-point auto-correlation function of the data with the one of catalogues of potential sources is a powerful diagnostic tool. In particular, this method is far less sensitive to unknown deflections in magnetic fields than cross-correlation studies while keeping a strong discrimination power among source candidates. We illustrate these advantages by considering ordinary galaxies, gamma ray bursts and active galactic nuclei as possible sources. Already the sparse publicly available data suggest that the sources of UHECRs may be a strongly clustered sub-sample of galaxies or of active galactic nuclei. We present forecasts for various cases of source distributions which can be checked soon by the Pierre Auger Observatory., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables; minor changes, matches published version