Searches for dark matter self-annihilation signals from dwarf spheroidal galaxies and the Fornax galaxy cluster with imaging air Cherenkov telescopes

Opitz, Björn Helmut Bastian

Searches for dark matter self-annihilation signals from dwarf spheroidal galaxies and the Fornax galaxy cluster with imaging air Cherenkov telescopes

Björn Helmut Bastian Opitz
(
- U. Hamburg, Dept. Phys.
)

Jun 17, 2014

161 pages

Supervisors:

Thesis: PhD

U. Hamburg, Dept. Phys.

(defense: Jun 17, 2014)

Report number:

DESY-THESIS-2014-028

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Abstract:

Many astronomical observations indicate that dark matter pervades the universe and dominates the formation and dynamics of cosmic structures. Weakly inter- acting massive particles (WIMPs) with masses in the GeV to TeV range form a popular class of dark matter candidates. WIMP self-annihilation may lead to the production of -rays in the very high energy regime above 100 GeV , which is observable with imaging air Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs). For this thesis, observations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSph) and the For- nax galaxy cluster with the Cherenkov telescope systems H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS were used to search for -ray signals of dark matter annihilations. The work consists of two parts: First, a likelihood-based statistical technique was intro- duced to combine published results of dSph observations with the different IACTs. The technique also accounts for uncertainties on the “ J factors”, which quantify the dark matter content of the dwarf galaxies. Secondly, H.E.S.S. observations of the Fornax cluster were analyzed. In this case, a collection of dark matter halo models was used for the J factor computation. In addition, possible signal enhancements from halo substructures were considered. None of the searches yielded a significant -ray signal. Therefore, the re- sults were used to place upper limits on the thermally averaged dark matter self-annihilation cross-section h v i . Different models for the final state of the an- nihilation process were considered. The cross-section limits range from h

\langle{\sigma\nu}\rangle_{UL} \sim 10^{-19} cm^{3}s^{-1} to \langle{\sigma\nu}\rangle_{UL} \sim 10^{-25} cm^{3}s^{-1}

for dark matter particles masses between 100 GeV and 100 TeV . Some of the diverse model uncertainties causing this wide range of

\langle{\sigma\nu}\rangle_{UL}

values were analyzed.

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