Search for decaying dark matter in the Virgo cluster of galaxies with HAWC

Albert A, Alfaro R, Alvarez C, Arteaga-Velázquez JC, Ayala Solares HA, Babu R, Belmont-Moreno E, Caballero-Mora KS, Capistrán T, Carramiñana A, Casanova S, Cotzomi J, Coutiño De León S, Depaoli D, Diaz Hernandez R, Duvernois MA, Durocher M, Fraija N, García-González JA, González MM, Goodman JA, Harding JP, Hernández-Cadena S, Herzog I, Huang D, Hueyotl-Zahuantitla F, Joshi V, Kaufmann S, León Vargas H, Linnemann JT, Longinotti AL, Luis-Raya G, Malone K, Martínez-Castro J, Matthews JA, Miranda-Romagnoli P, Morales-Soto JA, Mostafá M, Nayerhoda A, Nellen L, Nisa MU, Noriega-Papaqui R, Omodei N, Pérez-Pérez EG, Rho CD, Rosa-González D, Schneider M, Son Y, Springer RW, Tibolla O, Tollefson K, Torres I, Torres-Escobedo R, Turner R, Ureña-Mena F, Villaseñor L, Wang X, Watson IJ, Yun-Cárcamo S (2024)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2024

Journal

Book Volume: 109

Article Number: 043034

Journal Issue: 4

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.109.043034

Abstract

The decay or annihilation of dark matter particles may produce a steady flux of very-high-energy gamma rays detectable above the diffuse background. Nearby clusters of galaxies provide excellent targets to search for the signatures of particle dark matter interactions. In particular, the Virgo cluster spans several degrees across the sky and can be efficiently probed with a wide field-of-view instrument. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory, due to its wide field of view and sensitivity to gamma rays at an energy scale of 300 GeV-100 TeV is well-suited for this search. Using 2141 days of data, we search for γ-ray emission from the Virgo cluster, assuming well-motivated dark matter substructure models. Our results provide some of the strongest constraints on the decay lifetime of dark matter for masses above 10 TeV.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Michigan Technological University United States (USA) (US) National Autonomous University of Mexico / Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) Mexico (MX) Los Alamos National Laboratory United States (USA) (US) National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico / Instituto Politécnico Nacional de México Mexico (MX) Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) United States (USA) (US) Michigan State University United States (USA) (US) Stanford University United States (USA) (US) Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca (UPP) Mexico (MX) Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) Korea, Republic of (KR) Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas (UNACH) Mexico (MX) National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics / Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE) Mexico (MX) Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences / Instytut Fizyki Jądrowej im. Henryka Niewodniczańskiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk Poland (PL) Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) / Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla Mexico (MX) Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) Mexico (MX) University of Maryland United States (USA) (US) University of New Mexico (UNM) / Universidad de Nuevo México United States (USA) (US) Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo / Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo Mexico (MX) Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (UMSNH) Mexico (MX) University of Seoul (UOS) / 서울시립대학교 Korea, Republic of (KR) University of Wisconsin - Madison United States (USA) (US) Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK) / Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics Germany (DE) University of Utah United States (USA) (US) Shanghai Jiao Tong University / 上海交通大学 China (CN)

How to cite

APA:

Albert, A., Alfaro, R., Alvarez, C., Arteaga-Velázquez, J.C., Ayala Solares, H.A., Babu, R.,... Yun-Cárcamo, S. (2024). Search for decaying dark matter in the Virgo cluster of galaxies with HAWC. Physical Review D, 109(4). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.043034

MLA:

Albert, A., et al. "Search for decaying dark matter in the Virgo cluster of galaxies with HAWC." Physical Review D 109.4 (2024).

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