Intermediate Mass Black Holes and Nearby Dark Matter Point Sources: A Critical Reassessment

Details Intermediate Mass Black Holes and Nearby Dark Matter Point Sources: A Critical Reassessment Intermediate Mass Black Holes and Nearby Dark Matter Point Sources: A Critical Reassessment

2009-02-20

arxiv.org/abs/0902.3665v2

Phys.Rev.Lett.103:161301,2009

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics

4 pages revtex4, 4 figures. Improved analysis and discussion, added constraints from Fermi data, corrected figures and updated

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.161301

The proposal of a galactic population of intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs), forming dark matter (DM) ``mini-spikes'' around them, has received considerable attention in recent years. In fact, leading in some scenarios to large annihilation fluxes in gamma rays, neutrinos and charged cosmic rays, these objects are sometimes quoted as one of the most promising targets for indirect DM searches. In this letter, we apply a detailed statistical analysis to point out that the existing EGRET data already place very stringent limits on those scenarios, making it rather unlikely that any of these objects will be observed with, e.g., the Fermi/GLAST satellite or upcoming Air Cherenkov telescopes. We also demonstrate that prospects for observing signals in neutrinos or charged cosmic rays seem even worse. Finally, we address the question of whether the excess in the cosmic ray positron/electron flux recently reported by PAMELA/ATIC could be due to a nearby DM point source like a DM clump or mini-spike; gamma-ray bounds, as well as the recently released Fermi cosmic ray electron and positron data, again exclude such a possibility for conventional DM candidates, and strongly constrain it for DM purely annihilating into light leptons.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Intermediate Mass Black Holes and Nearby Dark Matter Point Sources: A Critical Reassessment does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Intermediate Mass Black Holes and Nearby Dark Matter Point Sources: A Critical Reassessment, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Intermediate Mass Black Holes and Nearby Dark Matter Point Sources: A Critical Reassessment will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-370342