Diffuse cosmic gamma rays at 1–20 MeV: a trace of the dark matter?
Creators
- 1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1 (Canada)
Description
Several independent observations of the galactic core suggest hitherto unexplained sources of energy. The most well known case is the 511 keV line which has proven very difficult to explain with conventional astrophysical positron sources. A similar, but less well known mystery is the excess of gamma ray photons detected by COMPTEL across a broad energy range ∼1–20 MeV. Such photons are found to be very difficult to produce via known astrophysical sources. We show in this work that dark matter in the form of dense antimatter droplets provides a natural explanation for the observed flux of gamma rays in the ∼1–20 MeV range. We argue that such photons must always accompany the 511 keV line as they are produced by the same mechanism within our framework. We calculate the spectrum and intensity of the ∼1–20 MeV gamma rays, and find it to be consistent with the COMPTEL data
Availability note (English)
Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2008/01/022Additional details
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1088/1475-7516/2008/01/022;
- PII
- S1475-7516(08)68853-9;
Publishing Information
- Journal Title
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
- Journal Volume
- 2008
- Journal Issue
- 01
- Journal Page Range
- [13 p.]
- ISSN
- 1475-7516
INIS
- Country of Publication
- United States
- Country of Input or Organization
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- INIS RN
- 44092505
- Subject category
- S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
- Descriptors DEI
- ANTIMATTER; ASTROPHYSICS; COSMIC PHOTONS; DROPLETS; GAMMA RADIATION; GAMMA SPECTRA; KEV RANGE; MEV RANGE; NONLUMINOUS MATTER; POSITRON SOURCES
- Descriptors DEC
- BOSONS; COSMIC RADIATION; ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION; ELEMENTARY PARTICLES; ENERGY RANGE; IONIZING RADIATIONS; MASSLESS PARTICLES; MATTER; PARTICLE SOURCES; PARTICLES; PHOTONS; PHYSICS; RADIATION SOURCES; RADIATIONS; SPECTRA