Search

This study reanalyzes the detection prospects of dark matter (DM) annihilation signals in the Galactic Center, focusing on velocity-dependent dynamics within a spike density near the supermassive black hole (Sgr A⋆). We investigate three annihilation processes — p-wave, resonance, and forbidden annihilation — under semi-relativistic velocities, leveraging gamma-ray data from Fermi and DAMPE telescopes. Our analysis integrates a fermionic DM model with an electroweak axion-like particle (ALP) portal, exploring annihilation into two or four photons. Employing a comprehensive six-dimensional integration, we precisely calculate DM-induced gamma-ray fluxes near Sgr A⋆, incorporating velocity and positional dependencies in the annihilation cross-section and photon yield spectra. Our findings highlight scenarios of resonance and forbidden annihilation, where the larger ALP-DM-DM coupling constant Caχχ can affect spike density, potentially yielding detectable gamma-ray line spectra within Fermi and DAMPE energy resolution. We set upper limits for Caχχ across these scenarios, offering insights into the detectability and spectral characteristics of DM annihilation signals from the Galactic Center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A group of massive galaxies at redshifts of z ≳ 7 have been recently detected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which were unexpected to form at such an early time within the standard Big Bang cosmology. In this work, we propose that this puzzle can be explained by the presence of some primordial black holes (PBHs) with a mass of ∼ 1000M⊙. These PBHs act as seeds for early galaxy formation with masses of ∼ 108–1010M⊙ at high redshift, hence accounting for the JWST observations. We use a hierarchical Bayesian inference framework to constrain the PBH mass distribution models, and find that the Lognormal model with the Mc ∼ 750M⊙ is preferred over other hypotheses. These rapidly growing BHs are expected to have strong radiation and may appear as high-redshift compact objects, similar to those recently discovered by JWST. Although we focused on PBHs in this work, the bound on the initial mass of the seed black holes remains robust even if they were formed through astrophysical channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have proposed that there is evidence for cosmological coupling of black holes (BHs) with an index of k ≈ 3; hence, BHs serve as the astrophysical source of dark energy. However, the data sample is limited for the redshifts of ≤ 2.5. In recent years, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected many high-redshift active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and quasars. Among the JWST NIRSpec-/NIRCam-resolved AGNs, three are determined to be in early-type host galaxies with a redshift of z ∼4.5–7. However, their M* and MBH are in tension with the predicted cosmological coupling of black holes with k = 3 at a confidence level of ∼2σ, which challenges the hypothesis that BHs serve as the origin of dark energy. Future work on high-redshift AGNs using the JWST will further assess such a hypothesis by identifying more early-type host galaxies in the higher mass range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is a space high-energy cosmic-ray detector covering a wide energy band with a high energy resolution. One of the key scientific goals of DAMPE is to carry out indirect detection of dark matter by searching for high-energy gamma-ray line structure. To promote the sensitivity of gamma-ray line search with DAMPE, it is crucial to improve the acceptance and energy resolution of gamma-ray photons. In this paper, we quantitatively proved that the photon sample with the largest ratio of acceptance to energy resolution is optimal for line search. We therefore developed a line-search sample specifically optimized for the line-search. Meanwhile, in order to increase the statistics, we also selected the so-called BGO-only photons that convert into e+e− pairs only in the BGO calorimeter. The standard, the line-search, and the BGO-only photon samples are then tested for line-search individually and collectively. The results show that a significantly improved limit could be obtained from an appropriate combination of the date sets, and the increase is about 20% for the highest case compared with using the standard sample only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fast developments of radio astronomy open a new window to explore the properties of Dark Matter (DM). The recent direct imaging of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center of M87 radio galaxy by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration is expected to be very useful to search for possible new physics. In this work, we illustrate that such results can be used to detect the possible synchrotron radiation signature produced by DM annihilation from the innermost region of the SMBH. Assuming the existence of a spike DM density profile, we obtain the flux density due to DM annihilation induced electrons and positrons, and derive new limits on the DM annihilation cross section via the comparison with the EHT integral flux density at 230 GHz. Our results show that the parameter space can be probed by the EHT observations is largely complementary to other experiments. For DM with typical mass regions of being weakly interacting massive particles, the annihilation cross section several orders of magnitude below the thermal production level can be excluded by the EHT observations under the density spike assumption. Future EHT observations may further improve the sensitivity on the DM searches, and may also provide a unique opportunity to test the interplay between DM and the SMBH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fast developments of radio astronomy open a new window to explore the properties of Dark Matter (DM). The recent direct imaging of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center of M87 radio galaxy by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration is expected to be very useful to search for possible new physics. In this work, we illustrate that such results can be used to detect the possible synchrotron radiation signature produced by DM annihilation from the innermost region of the SMBH. Assuming the existence of a spike DM density profile, we obtain the flux density due to DM annihilation induced electrons and positrons, and derive new limits on the DM annihilation cross section via the comparison with the EHT integral flux density at 230 GHz. Our results show that the parameter space can be probed by the EHT observations is largely complementary to other experiments. For DM with typical mass regions of being weakly interacting massive particles, the annihilation cross section several orders of magnitude below the thermal production level can be excluded by the EHT observations under the density spike assumption. Future EHT observations may further improve the sensitivity on the DM searches, and may also provide a unique opportunity to test the interplay between DM and the SMBH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]