Dark Matter spike and gamma-ray boost around the black hole at the Galactic Center

• Grant number: 24/01381-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: January 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Astrophysics of the Interstellar Medium
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Vitor de Souza Filho
• Grantee: Murillo Gregorio Grefener da Silva
• 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

Presently, there is a widely accepted understanding that the predominant component of the Universe's matter density is an enigmatic constituent referred to as Dark Matter (DM). This elusive form of matter is believed to consist of a novel elementary particle that is neutral, stable, and non-baryonic in nature. In dense regions of the Universe, DM may go through self-annihilation or decay processes, producing distinctive gamma-ray signatures. Particularly, dwarf galaxies, galaxy clusters, and the Galactic Center are compelling candidates to host such substantial high-energy gamma-ray signals. The adiabatic growth of a black hole in the center of some of these objects may result in a notable increase in dark matter density in the proximity of the hole, consequently leading to a substantial augmentation of the expected gamma-ray flux. Notably, within the Milky Way, the central region harbours a supermassive black hole (SMBH) known as Sagittarius (Sgr) A* and an observable gamma-ray source named J1745-290, which has a position compatible with the SMBH. The primary goal of this project is to assess whether the formation of an adiabatic spike in the Galactic Center and the DM self-annihilation "boost" effect around Sgr A* can explain alone the observed gamma-ray source in this region, or if, instead, a combination of DM annihilation plus a background emission from other non-thermal radiative models is necessary. Special attention will be given to the learning of advanced astronomical softwares to handle $\gamma$-ray data, such as Astropy, Gammapy, Fermipy, and numerical libraries that can generate non-thermal radiation from a population of relativistic particle, such as Naima or Gamera. These softwares will be used to analyze and perform a full statistical fit of different particle physics and astrophysical models to real data from the Fermi-LAT and H.E.S.S. telescopes of the Galactic Center.