Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to dark subhalos

Abstract

In this work, we study the potential of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) for the detection of Galactic dark matter (DM) subhalos. We focus on low-mass subhalos that do not host any baryonic content and therefore lack any multiwavelength counterpart. If the DM is made of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), these dark subhalos may thus appear in the gamma-ray sky as unidentified sources. A detailed characterization of the instrumental response of CTA to dark subhalos is performed, for which we use the ctools analysis software and simulate CTA observations under different array configurations and pointing strategies, such as the scheduled extragalactic survey. This, together with information on the subhalo population as inferred from N-body cosmological simulations, allows us to predict the CTA detectability of dark subhalos, i.e., the expected number of subhalos in each of the considered observational scenarios. In the absence of detection, for each observation strategy we set competitive limits to the annihilation cross section as a function of the DM particle mass, that are at the level of σv ∼ 4 × 10 −24 (7 × 10 −25 ) cm 3 s −1 for the b b (τ + τ − ) annihilation channel in the best case scenario. Interestingly, we find the latter to be reached with no dedicated observations, as we obtain the best limits by just accumulating exposure time from all scheduled CTA programs and pointings over the first 10 years of operation. This way CTA will offer the most constraining limits from subhalo searches in the intermediate range between ∼ 1 − 3 TeV, complementing previous results with Fermi-LAT and HAWC at lower and higher energies, respectively.

Cherenkov Telescope Array sensitivity to the putative millisecond pulsar population responsible for the Galactic center excess

“…of Acharyya et al (2021) covers a region that is almost two times larger than the RoI assumed in our work. Another interesting possibility could be to use the CTA divergent pointing mode(Gérard 2016) in which CTA can survey a region as large as 20 • × 20 • [see for example the "Deep exposure scenario" proposed inCoronado-Blázquez et al (2021)]. …”