| 1. |
- Abdo, A. A., et al.
(author)
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OBSERVATIONS OF MILKY WAY DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXIES WITH THE FERMI-LARGE AREA TELESCOPE DETECTOR AND CONSTRAINTS ON DARK MATTER MODELS
- 2010
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 712:1, s. 147-158
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on the observations of 14 dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope taken during the first 11 months of survey mode operations. The Fermi telescope, which is conducting an all-sky gamma-ray survey in the 20 MeV to > 300 GeV energy range, provides a new opportunity to test particle dark matter models through the expected gamma-ray emission produced by pair annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). Local Group dSphs, the largest galactic substructures predicted by the cold dark matter scenario, are attractive targets for such indirect searches for dark matter because they are nearby and among the most extreme dark matter dominated environments. No significant gamma-ray emission was detected above 100 MeV from the candidate dwarf galaxies. We determine upper limits to the gamma-ray flux assuming both power-law spectra and representative spectra from WIMP annihilation. The resulting integral flux above 100 MeV is constrained to be at a level below around 10(-9) photons cm(-2) s(-1). Using recent stellar kinematic data, the gamma-ray flux limits are combined with improved determinations of the dark matter density profile in eight of the 14 candidate dwarfs to place limits on the pair-annihilation cross section of WIMPs in several widely studied extensions of the standard model, including its supersymmetric extension and other models that received recent attention. With the present data, we are able to rule out large parts of the parameter space where the thermal relic density is below the observed cosmological dark matter density and WIMPs (neutralinos here) are dominantly produced non-thermally, e. g., in models where supersymmetry breaking occurs via anomaly mediation. The gamma-ray limits presented here also constrain some WIMP models proposed to explain the Fermi and PAMELA e(+)e(-) data, including low-mass wino-like neutralinos and models with TeV masses pair annihilating into muon-antimuon pairs.
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| 2. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(author)
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GeV GAMMA-RAY FLUX UPPER LIMITS FROM CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES
- 2010
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In: ASTROPHYS J LETT. - 2041-8205. ; 717:1, s. l71-L78
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The detection of diffuse radio emission associated with clusters of galaxies indicates populations of relativistic leptons infusing the intracluster medium (ICM). Those electrons and positrons are either injected into and accelerated directly in the ICM, or produced as secondary pairs by cosmic-ray ions scattering on ambient protons. Radiation mechanisms involving the energetic leptons together with the decay of neutral pions produced by hadronic interactions have the potential to produce abundant GeV photons. Here, we report on the search for GeV emission from clusters of galaxies using data collected by the Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope from 2008 August to 2010 February. Thirty-three galaxy clusters have been selected according to their proximity and high mass, X-ray flux and temperature, and indications of non-thermal activity for this study. We report upper limits on the photon flux in the range 0.2-100 GeV toward a sample of observed clusters (typical values (1-5) x 10(-9) photon cm(-2) s(-1)) considering both point-like and spatially resolved models for the high-energy emission and discuss how these results constrain the characteristics of energetic leptons and hadrons, and magnetic fields in the ICM. The volume-averaged relativistic-hadron-to-thermal energy density ratio is found to be <5%-10% in several clusters.
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| 3. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(author)
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Constraints on dark matter annihilation in clusters of galaxies with the Fermi large area telescope
- 2010
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In: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 1475-7516. ; :5, s. 25-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nearby clusters and groups of galaxies are potentially bright sources of highenergy gamma-ray emission resulting from the pair-annihilation of dark matter particles. However, no significant gamma-ray emission has been detected so far from clusters in the first 11 months of observations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. We interpret this non-detection in terms of constraints on dark matter particle properties. In particular for leptonic annihilation final states and particle masses greater than similar to 200GeV, gamma-ray emission from inverse Compton scattering of CMB photons is expected to dominate the dark matter annihilation signal from clusters, and our gamma-ray limits exclude large regions of the parameter space that would give a good fit to the recent anomalous Pamela and Fermi-LAT electron-positron measurements. We also present constraints on the annihilation of more standard dark matter candidates, such as the lightest neutralino of supersymmetric models. The constraints are particularly strong when including the fact that clusters are known to contain substructure at least on galaxy scales, increasing the expected gammaray flux by a factor of similar to 5 over a smooth-halo assumption. We also explore the effect of uncertainties in cluster dark matter density profiles, finding a systematic uncertainty in the constraints of roughly a factor of two, but similar overall conclusions. In this work, we focus on deriving limits on dark matter models; a more general consideration of the Fermi-LAT data on clusters and clusters as gamma-ray sources is forthcoming.
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| 4. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(author)
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Constraining Dark Matter Models from a Combined Analysis of Milky Way Satellites with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
- 2011
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In: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 107:24
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Satellite galaxies of the Milky Way are among the most promising targets for dark matter searches in gamma rays. We present a search for dark matter consisting of weakly interacting massive particles, applying a joint likelihood analysis to 10 satellite galaxies with 24 months of data of the Fermi Large Area Telescope. No dark matter signal is detected. Including the uncertainty in the dark matter distribution, robust upper limits are placed on dark matter annihilation cross sections. The 95% confidence level upper limits range from about 10(-26) cm(3) s(-1) at 5 GeV to about 5 x 10(-23) cm(3) s(-1) at 1 TeV, depending on the dark matter annihilation final state. For the first time, using gamma rays, we are able to rule out models with the most generic cross section (similar to 3 x 10(-26) cm(3) s(-1) for a purely s-wave cross section), without assuming additional boost factors.
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| 5. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(author)
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Search for extended gamma-ray emission from the Virgo Galaxy Cluster with Fermi-LAT
- 2015
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 812:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Galaxy clusters are one of the prime sites to search for dark matter (DM) annihilation signals. Depending on the substructure of the DM halo of a galaxy cluster and the cross sections for DM annihilation channels, these signals might be detectable by the latest generation of gamma-ray telescopes. Here we use three years of Fermi-Large Area Telescope data, which are the most suitable for searching for very extended emission in the vicinity of the nearby Virgo galaxy cluster. Our analysis reveals statistically significant extended emission which can be well characterized by a uniformly emitting disk profile with a radius of 3 degrees that moreover is offset from the cluster center. We demonstrate that the significance of this extended emission strongly depends on the adopted interstellar emission model (IEM) and is most likely an artifact of our incomplete description of the IEM in this region. We also search for and find new point source candidates in the region. We then derive conservative upper limits on the velocity-averaged DM pair annihilation cross section from Virgo. We take into account the potential gamma-ray flux enhancement due to DM sub-halos and its complex morphology as a merging cluster. For DM annihilating into b (b) over bar, assuming a conservative sub-halo model setup, we find limits that are between 1 and 1.5 orders of magnitude above the expectation from the thermal cross section for m(DM) <= 100 GeV. In a more optimistic scenario, we exclude similar to 3 x 10(-26)cm(3)s(-1) for m(DM)less than or similar to 40 GeV for the same channel. Finally, we derive upper limits on the gamma-ray-flux produced by hadronic cosmic-ray interactions in the inter cluster medium. We find that the volume-averaged cosmic-ray-to-thermal pressure ratio is less than similar to 6%.
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| 6. |
- Drlica-Wagner, A., et al.
(author)
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SEARCH FOR GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM DES DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXY CANDIDATES WITH FERMI-LAT DATA
- 2015
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In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 809:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Due to their proximity, high dark-matter (DM) content, and apparent absence of non-thermal processes, Milky Way dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies (dSphs) are excellent targets for the indirect detection of DM. Recently, eight new dSph candidates were discovered using the first year of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We searched for gamma-ray emission coincident with the positions of these new objects in six years of Fermi Large Area Telescope data. We found no significant excesses of gamma-ray emission. Under the assumption that the DES candidates are dSphs with DM halo properties similar to the known dSphs, we computed individual and combined limits on the velocity-averaged DM annihilation cross section for these new targets. If the estimated DM content of these dSph candidates is confirmed, they will constrain the annihilation cross section to lie below the thermal relic cross section for DM particles with masses less than or similar to 20 GeV annihilating via the b (b) over bar or pi(+)pi(-) channels.
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| 7. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(author)
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SEARCH FOR COSMIC-RAY-INDUCED GAMMA-RAY EMISSION IN GALAXY CLUSTERS
- 2014
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 787:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Current theories predict relativistic hadronic particle populations in clusters of galaxies in addition to the already observed relativistic leptons. In these scenarios hadronic interactions give rise to neutral pions which decay into gamma rays that are potentially observable with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi space telescope. We present a joint likelihood analysis searching for spatially extended gamma-ray emission at the locations of 50 galaxy clusters in four years of Fermi-LAT data under the assumption of the universal cosmic-ray (CR) model proposed by Pinzke & Pfrommer. We find an excess at a significance of 2.7 sigma, which upon closer inspection, however, is correlated to individual excess emission toward three galaxy clusters: A400, A1367, and A3112. We discuss these cases in detail and conservatively attribute the emission to unmodeled background systems (for example, radio galaxies within the clusters). Through the combined analysis of 50 clusters, we exclude hadronic injection efficiencies in simple hadronic models above 21% and establish limits on the CR to thermal pressure ratio within the virial radius, R-200, to be below 1.25%-1.4% depending on the morphological classification. In addition, we derive new limits on the gamma-ray flux from individual clusters in our sample.
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| 8. |
- Zhang, Y., et al.
(author)
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Galaxies in X-ray selected clusters and groups in Dark Energy Survey data - II. Hierarchical Bayesian modelling of the red-sequence galaxy luminosity function
- 2019
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 488:1, s. 1-17
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using similar to 100 X-ray selected clusters in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data, we constrain the luminosity function ( LF) of cluster red-sequence galaxies as a function of redshift. This is the first homogeneous optical/X-ray sample large enough to constrain the evolution of the LF simultaneously in redshift ( 0.1 < z < 1.05) and cluster mass ( 13.5 <= log(10)( M-200crit) similar to< 15.0). We pay particular attention to completeness issues and the detection limit of the galaxy sample. We then apply a hierarchical Bayesian model to fit the cluster galaxy LFs via a Schechter function, including its characteristic break ( m*) to a faint end power-law slope ( alpha). Our method enables us to avoid known issues in similar analyses based on stacking or binning the clusters. We find weak and statistically insignificant (similar to 1.9 sigma) evolution in the faint end slope alpha versus redshift. We also find no dependence in alpha or m* with the X-ray inferred cluster masses. However, the amplitude of the LF as a function of cluster mass is constrained to similar to 20 per cent precision. As a by-product of our algorithm, we utilize the correlation between the LF and cluster mass to provide an improved estimate of the individual cluster masses as well as the scatter in true mass given the X-ray inferred masses. This technique can be applied to a larger sample of X-ray or optically selected clusters from the Dark Energy Survey, significantly improving the sensitivity of the analysis.
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| 9. |
- Palmese, A., et al.
(author)
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Stellar mass as a galaxy cluster mass proxy : application to the Dark Energy Survey redMaPPer clusters
- 2020
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In: \mnras. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). ; 493:4, s. 4591-4606
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We introduce a galaxy cluster mass observable, μ⋆, based on the stellar masses of cluster members, and we present results for the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 (Y1) observations. Stellar masses are computed using a Bayesian model averaging method, and are validated for DES data using simulations and COSMOS data. We show that μ⋆ works as a promising mass proxy by comparing our predictions to X-ray measurements. We measure the X-ray temperature–μ⋆ relation for a total of 129 clusters matched between the wide-field DES Y1 redMaPPer catalogue and Chandra and XMM archival observations, spanning the redshift range 0.1 < z < 0.7. For a scaling relation that is linear in logarithmic space, we find a slope of α = 0.488 ± 0.043 and a scatter in the X-ray temperature at fixed μ⋆ of σlnTX|μ⋆=0.266+0.019−0.020 for the joint sample. By using the halo mass scaling relations of the X-ray temperature from the Weighing the Giants program, we further derive the μ⋆-conditioned scatter in mass, finding σlnM|μ⋆=0.26+0.15−0.10. These results are competitive with well-established cluster mass proxies used for cosmological analyses, showing that μ⋆ can be used as a reliable and physically motivated mass proxy to derive cosmological constraints.
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| 10. |
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