Published October 15, 2008 | Version v1
Journal article

Search for dark matter annihilation in Draco with the Solar Tower Atmospheric Cherenkov Effect Experiment

  • 1. Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G7 Canada and TRIUMF, Vancouver, BC V6T 2A3 (Canada)
  • 2. Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064 (United States)
  • 3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027 (United States)
  • 4. Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2T8 (Canada)
  • 5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States)
  • 6. Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106 (United States)

Description

For some time, the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy has garnered interest as a possible source for the indirect detection of dark matter. Its large mass-to-light ratio and relative proximity to the Earth provide favorable conditions for the production of a detectable flux of gamma rays from dark matter self-annihilation in its core. The Solar Tower Atmospheric Cherenkov Effect Experiment (STACEE) is an atmospheric Cherenkov telescope located in Albuquerque, NM capable of detecting gamma rays at energies above 100 GeV. We present the results of the STACEE observations of Draco during the 2005-2006 observing season totaling 10.2 hours of live time after cuts. We do not detect a significant gamma-ray signal from Draco, and place an upper limit on a power-law spectrum of (dN/dE)|Draco<1.6x10-13((E/220 GeV))-2.2γ s-1 cm-2 GeV-1 Assuming a smooth Navarro-Frenk-White profile for the dark-matter halo and an annihilation spectrum, we also derive upper limits for the cross-section-velocity product (<σv>) for weakly interacting massive particles self-annihilation.

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Physical Review. D, Particles Fields
Journal Volume
78
Journal Issue
8
Journal Page Range
p. 087101-087101.4
ISSN
0556-2821
CODEN
PRVDAQ

Optional Information

Notes
(c) 2008 The American Physical Society