Exploring A Cosmic-Ray Origin of the Multi-wavelength Emission in M31

A recent detection of spatially extended gamma-ray emission in the central region of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) has led to several possible explanations being put forth, including dark matter annihilation and millisecond pulsars. Another possibility is that the emission in M31 can be accounted for with a purely astrophysical cosmic-ray (CR) scenario. This scenario would lead to a rich multi-wavelength emission that can, in turn, be used to test it. Relativistic cosmic-ray electrons (CRe) in magnetic fields produce radio emission through synchrotron radiation, while X-rays and gamma rays are produced through inverse Compton scattering. Additionally, collisions of primary cosmic-ray protons (CRp) in the interstellar medium produce charged and neutral pions that then decay into secondary CRe (detectable through radiative processes) and gamma-rays. Here, we explore the viability of a CR origin for multi-wavelength emission in M31, taking into consideration three scenarios: a CR scenario dominated by primary CRe, one dominated by CRp and the resulting secondary CRe and gamma rays from neutral pion decay, and a final case in which both of these components exist simultaneously. We find that the multi-component model is the most promising, and is able to fit the multi-wavelength spectrum for a variety of astrophysical parameters consistent with previous studies of M31 and of cosmic-ray physics. However, the CR power injection implied by our models exceeds the estimated CR power injection from typical astrophysical cosmic-ray sources such as supernovae.Comment: Accepted to Phys Rev D, 15 Pages, 9 figures, 4 tables, updated figures/tables, added discussio

Multiwavelength Analysis of Dark Matter Annihilation and RX-DMFIT

Dark matter (DM) particles are predicted by several well motivated models to yield Standard Model particles through self-annihilation that can potentially be detected by astrophysical observations. In particular, the production of charged particles from DM annihilation in astrophysical systems that contain magnetic fields yields radio emission through synchrotron radiation and X-ray emission through inverse Compton scattering of ambient photons. We introduce RX-DMFIT, a tool used for calculating the expected secondary emission from DM annihilation. RX-DMFIT includes a wide range of customizable astrophysical and particle parameters and incorporates important astrophysics including the diffusion of charged particles, relevant radiative energy losses, and magnetic field modelling. We demonstrate the use and versatility of RX-DMFIT by analyzing the potential radio and X-ray signals for a variety of DM particle models and astrophysical environments including galaxy clusters, dwarf spheroidal galaxies and normal galaxies. We then apply RX-DMFIT to a concrete example using Segue I radio data to place constraints for a range of assumed DM annihilation channels. For WIMP models with $M_{\chi} \leq 100$ GeV and assuming weak diffusion, we find that the the leptonic $\mu^+\mu^-$ and $\tau^+\tau^-$ final states provide the strongest constraints, placing limits on the DM particle cross-section well below the thermal relic cross-section, while even for the $b\bar{b}$ channel we find limits close to the thermal relic cross-section. Our analysis shows that radio emission provides a highly competitive avenue for dark matter searches.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, corrections to figures, additional text, accepted to JCA

Synchrotron Emission from Dark Matter Annihilation: Predictions for Constraints from Non-detections of Galaxy Clusters with New Radio Surveys

The annihilation of dark matter particles is expected to yield a broad radiation spectrum via the production of Standard Model particles in astrophysical environments. In particular, electrons and positrons from dark matter annihilation produce synchrotron radiation in the presence of magnetic fields. Galaxy clusters are the most massive collapsed structures in the universe, and are known to host $\sim\mu$G-scale magnetic fields. They are therefore ideal targets to search for, or to constrain the synchrotron signal from dark matter annihilation. In this work we use the expected sensitivities of several planned surveys from the next generation of radio telescopes to predict the constraints on dark matter annihilation models which will be achieved in the case of non-detections of diffuse radio emission from galaxy clusters. Specifically, we consider the Tier 1 survey planned for the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) at 120 MHz, the EMU survey planned for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) at 1.4 GHz, and planned surveys for APERTIF at 1.4 GHz. We find that, for massive clusters and dark matter masses $\lesssim 100$ GeV, the predicted limits on the annihilation cross section would rule out vanilla thermal relic models for even the shallow LOFAR Tier 1, ASKAP, and APERTIF surveys.Comment: accepted to ApJ; removal of LOFAR Tier 2 limits; other minor text changes; conclusions largely unchange

A Multi-Wavelength Analysis of Annihilating Dark Matter as the Origin of the Gamma-Ray Emission from M31

[Abridged] Indirect detection of dark matter (DM) by multi-wavelength astronomical observations provides a promising avenue for probing the particle nature of DM. In the case of DM consisting of Weakly-Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), self-annihilation ultimately produces observable products including $e^{\pm}$ pairs and gamma rays. The gamma rays can be detected directly, while the $e^{\pm}$ pairs can be detected by radio emission from synchrotron radiation or X-rays and soft gamma rays from inverse Compton scattering. An intriguing region to search for astrophysical signs of DM is the Galactic center (GC) of the Milky Way, due in part to an observed excess of gamma-rays that could be DM. A recent observation by the Fermi-LAT collaboration of a similar excess in the central region of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) leads us to explore the possibility of a DM-induced signal there as well. We use the RX-DMFIT tool to perform a multi-frequency analysis of potential DM annihilation emissions in M31. We consider WIMP models consistent with the GC excess and calculate the expected emission across the electromagnetic spectrum in comparison with available observational data from M31. We find that the particle models that best fit the M31 excess favor lower masses than the GC excess. The best fitting models are for a $b\bar{b}$ final state with $M_{\chi}=11$ GeV and \left=2.6\times 10^{-26} cm$^3$s$^{-1}$, as well as an evenly mixed $b\bar{b}/\tau^+\tau^-$ final state with $M_{\chi}=5.8$ GeV and \left=2.03\times 10^{-26} cm$^3$s$^{-1}$. For conservative estimates of the diffusion and magnetic field models the expected radio emissions appear to be in tension with currently available data in the central region of M31, although this constraint has a fairly strong dependence on the values chosen for parameters describing the magnetic field strength and geometry.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, Added Table 2 and Figure 4, added galactic center contours to Figure 3, split section VA, some changes to text, Accepted to Phys. Rev