The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2023)
Search for Ultraheavy Dark Matter from Observations of Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies with VERITAS
- A. Acharyya,
- A. Archer,
- P. Bangale,
- J. T. Bartkoske,
- P. Batista,
- M. Baumgart,
- W. Benbow,
- J. H. Buckley,
- A. Falcone,
- Q. Feng,
- J. P. Finley,
- G. M. Foote,
- L. Fortson,
- A. Furniss,
- G. Gallagher,
- W. F. Hanlon,
- O. Hervet,
- J. Hoang,
- J. Holder,
- T. B. Humensky,
- W. Jin,
- P. Kaaret,
- M. Kertzman,
- M. Kherlakian,
- D. Kieda,
- T. K. Kleiner,
- N. Korzoun,
- F. Krennrich,
- M. J. Lang,
- M. Lundy,
- G. Maier,
- C. E McGrath,
- P. Moriarty,
- S. O’Brien,
- R. A. Ong,
- K. Pfrang,
- M. Pohl,
- E. Pueschel,
- J. Quinn,
- K. Ragan,
- P. T. Reynolds,
- E. Roache,
- N. L. Rodd,
- J. L. Ryan,
- I. Sadeh,
- L. Saha,
- M. Santander,
- G. H. Sembroski,
- R. Shang,
- M. Splettstoesser,
- D. Tak,
- J. V. Tucci,
- V. V. Vassiliev,
- D. A. Williams
Affiliations
- A. Acharyya
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
- A. Archer
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, DePauw University , Greencastle, IN 46135-0037, USA
- P. Bangale
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware , Newark, DE 19716, USA
- J. T. Bartkoske
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah , Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
- P. Batista
- ORCiD
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany ; [email protected], [email protected]
- M. Baumgart
- Department of Physics, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
- W. Benbow
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- J. H. Buckley
- Department of Physics, Washington University , St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
- A. Falcone
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 Davey Lab, Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA
- Q. Feng
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- J. P. Finley
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University , West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- G. M. Foote
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware , Newark, DE 19716, USA
- L. Fortson
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
- A. Furniss
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, California State University—East Bay , Hayward, CA 94542, USA
- G. Gallagher
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ball State University , Muncie, IN 47306, USA
- W. F. Hanlon
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- O. Hervet
- ORCiD
- Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics and Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- J. Hoang
- Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics and Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- J. Holder
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware , Newark, DE 19716, USA
- T. B. Humensky
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland , College Park, MD, USA
- W. Jin
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
- P. Kaaret
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa , Van Allen Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
- M. Kertzman
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, DePauw University , Greencastle, IN 46135-0037, USA
- M. Kherlakian
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany ; [email protected], [email protected]
- D. Kieda
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah , Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
- T. K. Kleiner
- ORCiD
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany ; [email protected], [email protected]
- N. Korzoun
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware , Newark, DE 19716, USA
- F. Krennrich
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University , Ames, IA 50011, USA
- M. J. Lang
- ORCiD
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Galway , University Road, Galway, H91 TK33, Ireland
- M. Lundy
- Physics Department, McGill University , Montreal, QC H3A 2T8, Canada
- G. Maier
- ORCiD
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany ; [email protected], [email protected]
- C. E McGrath
- School of Physics, University College Dublin , Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- P. Moriarty
- ORCiD
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Galway , University Road, Galway, H91 TK33, Ireland
- S. O’Brien
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, McGill University , Montreal, QC H3A 2T8, Canada
- R. A. Ong
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- K. Pfrang
- ORCiD
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany ; [email protected], [email protected]
- M. Pohl
- ORCiD
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany ; [email protected], [email protected]; Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam , 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
- E. Pueschel
- ORCiD
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany ; [email protected], [email protected]
- J. Quinn
- School of Physics, University College Dublin , Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- K. Ragan
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, McGill University , Montreal, QC H3A 2T8, Canada
- P. T. Reynolds
- Department of Physical Sciences, Munster Technological University , Bishopstown, Cork, T12 P928, Ireland
- E. Roache
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- N. L. Rodd
- Theoretical Physics Department , CERN, 1 Esplanade des Particules, CH-1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland
- J. L. Ryan
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- I. Sadeh
- ORCiD
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany ; [email protected], [email protected]
- L. Saha
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- M. Santander
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
- G. H. Sembroski
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University , West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- R. Shang
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- M. Splettstoesser
- Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics and Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- D. Tak
- ORCiD
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany ; [email protected], [email protected]; SNU Astronomy Research Center, Seoul National University , 1 Gwanak-rho, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- J. V. Tucci
- Department of Physics, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis , Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
- V. V. Vassiliev
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- D. A. Williams
- Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics and Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acbc7b
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 945,
no. 2
p. 101
Abstract
Dark matter is a key piece of the current cosmological scenario, with weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) a leading dark matter candidate. WIMPs have not been detected in their conventional parameter space (100 GeV ≲ M _χ ≲ 100 TeV), a mass range accessible with current Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes. As ultraheavy dark matter (UHDM; M _χ ≳ 100 TeV) has been suggested as an underexplored alternative to the WIMP paradigm, we search for an indirect dark matter annihilation signal in a higher mass range (up to 30 PeV) with the VERITAS γ -ray observatory. With 216 hr of observations of four dwarf spheroidal galaxies, we perform an unbinned likelihood analysis. We find no evidence of a γ -ray signal from UHDM annihilation above the background fluctuation for any individual dwarf galaxy nor for a joint-fit analysis, and consequently constrain the velocity-weighted annihilation cross section of UHDM for dark matter particle masses between 1 TeV and 30 PeV. We additionally set constraints on the allowed radius of a composite UHDM particle.
Keywords
