Abstract
The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is the second-largest satellite galaxy of the Milky Way and is only 60 kpc away. As a nearby, massive, and dense object with relatively low astrophysical backgrounds, it is a natural target for dark matter indirect detection searches. In this work, we use six years of Pass 8 data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope to search for gamma-ray signals of dark matter annihilation in the SMC. Using data-driven fits to the gamma-ray backgrounds, and a combination of N-body simulations and direct measurements of rotation curves to estimate the SMC DM density profile, we found that the SMC was well described by standard astrophysical sources, and no signal from dark matter annihilation was detected. We set conservative upper limits on the dark matter annihilation cross section. These constraints are in agreement with stronger constraints set by searches in the Large Magellanic Cloud and approach the canonical thermal relic cross section at dark matter masses lower than 10 GeV in the bb and τ+τ- channels.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 062004 |
| Journal | Physical review D |
| Volume | 93 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 22 2016 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Nuclear and High Energy Physics