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Constraints on WIMP Dark Matter from the High Energy PAMELA p¯/p Data

F. Donato, D. Maurin, P. Brun, T. Delahaye, and P. Salati
Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 071301 – Published 20 February 2009
Physics logo See Synopsis: Dark matter as a source of antiparticles: Too few positrons or too many antiprotons?

Abstract

A new calculation of the p¯/p ratio in cosmic rays is compared to the recent PAMELA data. The good match up to 100 GeV allows us to set constraints on exotic contributions from thermal weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter candidates. We derive stringent limits on possible enhancements of the WIMP p¯ flux: a mWIMP=100GeV (1 TeV) signal cannot be increased by more than a factor of 6 (40) without overrunning PAMELA data. Annihilation through the W+W channel is also inspected and cross-checked with e+/(e+e+) data. This scenario is strongly disfavored as it fails to simultaneously reproduce positron and antiproton measurements.

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  • Received 29 October 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.071301

©2009 American Physical Society

Synopsis

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Dark matter as a source of antiparticles: Too few positrons or too many antiprotons?

Published 23 February 2009

Two antimatter measurements performed by the PAMELA experiment appear to lead to conflicting results. Now, theorists are exploring the extent to which these measurements can be reconciled.

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Authors & Affiliations

F. Donato

  • Dipartimento di Fisica Teorica, Università di Torino Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, via P. Giuria 1, I-10125 Torino, Italy

D. Maurin

  • Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et Hautes Energies, CNRS-IN2P3/Université Paris VII, 4 Place Jussieu, Tour 33, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France

P. Brun

  • CEA, Irfu, Service de Physique des Particules, Centre de Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France

T. Delahaye and P. Salati

  • LAPTH, Université de Savoie, CNRS, B.P. 110 74941 Annecy-le-Vieux, France

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Issue

Vol. 102, Iss. 7 — 20 February 2009

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