Searching for Dark Matter signatures in dwarf spheroidal galaxies with the ASTRI mini-array in the framework of Cherenkov Telescope Array

The nature of Dark Matter (DM) is an open issue of modern physics. Cosmological considerations and observational evidences indicate a behaviour beyond the Standard Model for feasible DM particle candidates. Non-baryonic DM is compatible with cold and weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) expected to have a mass in the range between ∼10 GeV and ∼100 TeV. Indirect DM searches with imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes may play a crucial role in constraining the nature of the DM particle(s) through the study of their annihilation in very high energy (VHE) gamma rays from promising targets, such as the dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies (dSphs) of the Milky Way. Here, we focus on indirect DM searches in dSphs, presenting the preliminary prospects of this research beyond the TeV mass region achievable with the ASTRI mini-array, proposed to be installed at the Cherenkov Telescope Array southern site. (paper)