Optimization of Indirect Dark Matter Searches with Ground-based Gamma-Ray Observatories

• Grant number: 23/15494-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Elementary Particle Physics and Fields
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Vitor de Souza Filho
• Grantee: Micael Jonathan Duarte Andrade
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 19/14893-3 - Extreme phenomena of the Galactic Center and indirect searches of dark matter with gamma rays, AP.JP

Abstract

The nature of dark matter (DM) has become one of the most compelling mysteries of particle physics on the one hand, and astrophysics and cosmology on the other. Due to its large DM content and relative proximity, the Galactic Center region is expected to be the brightest source of gamma-rays from DM annihilation or decay in the sky by several orders of magnitude. Even considering the strong background from other astrophysical sources, it is one of the most promising sources to detect the presence of new massive DM particles. This project is focused on the particle physics and astrophysical modeling of the DM signal and the backgrounds in the GC region. The main objective will be to apply new methods, based on multivariate regression and machine learning techniques, to disentangle the overlapping sources of this region, in order to detect and characterize the DM component with the highest significance. These optimal methods will be used in the development and implementation of a multi-dimensional template analysis scheme initially tested in mock simulated data from gamma-ray telescopes, and then applied to real gamma-ray data from observations of the GC region by the H.E.S.S. and HAWC telescopes. In the case of no detection of a DM signal, constraints to theoretical models of DM particle will be derived. Finally, the sensitivity of future observatories, such as the Southern Wide field-of-view Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) and the Cherenkov TelescopeArray (CTA) to detect DM annihilation/decay signals from the most promising targets in the Universe will be performed.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ANDRADE, MICAEL; FAGIANI, JUAN; SIQUEIRA, CLARISSA; DE SOUZA, VITOR; VIANA, AION. Prospects for the detection of dark matter with long-lived mediators in the Sun using the Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, v. N/A, n. 1, p. 16-pg., 2025-01-01. (23/15494-0, 20/00320-9, 21/01089-1, 19/14893-3)