Line emission search from Dark Matter annihilation in the Galactic Center with LST-1

Dark Matter (DM) remains a great mystery in modern physics. Among various candidates, the weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) scenario stands out and is under extensive study. The detection of the hypothetical gamma-ray emission from WIMP annihilation could act as a direct probe of electroweak-scale interactions, complementing DM collider searches and other direct DM detection techniques. At very high energies (VHE), WIMP self-annihilation is expected to produce gamma rays together with other Standard Model particles. The Galactic Center (GC), due to its relative proximity to the Earth and its high expected DM density, is a prime target for monoenergetic line searches. Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) have placed strong constraints on the DM properties at the GC, with the Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) providing the most stringent limits from 20 TeV to 100 TeV exploiting Large Zenith Angle (LZA) observations. However, the limited field of view (FoV) of the MAGIC telescopes (< 3.5° ) prevented a detailed study of the extended region around the GC in which an enhanced DM density is expected. The first Large-Sized Telescope (LST-1) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), located at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma, Spain) close to the MAGIC site, has been observing the GC since 2021. With its wide FoV of 4.5°, LST-1 could contribute significantly to the WIMPs search at the GC. The observations are performed at LZA (ZA > 58°), which, while required due to the source’s low altitude, also optimizes the detection of gamma rays up to 100 TeV and beyond. We present a study of the systematic uncertainties in WIMP line emission searches with LST-1. Our work examines the instrument response functions for LZA observations, background rejection in monoscopic mode, and includes updated results from simulations, highlighting new methods for spectral line searches.

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Publication Details

Published
2025-09-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.22323/1.501.0462
Primary Topic
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
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article
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article

Line emission search from Dark Matter annihilation in the Galactic Center with LST-1

S. Abe, Sofia Ventura, G. Verna, M. Doro et al.
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
article

Line emission search from Dark Matter annihilation in the Galactic Center with LST-1

S. Abe, Sofia Ventura, G. Verna, M. Doro, Tomohiro Inada, M. Teshima, Abhishek Abhishek
article en

Abstract

Dark Matter (DM) remains a great mystery in modern physics. Among various candidates, the weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) scenario stands out and is under extensive study. The detection of the hypothetical gamma-ray emission from WIMP annihilation could act as a direct probe of electroweak-scale interactions, complementing DM collider searches and other direct DM detection techniques. At very high energies (VHE), WIMP self-annihilation is expected to produce gamma rays together with other Standard Model particles. The Galactic Center (GC), due to its relative proximity to the Earth and its high expected DM density, is a prime target for monoenergetic line searches. Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) have placed strong constraints on the DM properties at the GC, with the Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) providing the most stringent limits from 20 TeV to 100 TeV exploiting Large Zenith Angle (LZA) observations. However, the limited field of view (FoV) of the MAGIC telescopes (< 3.5° ) prevented a detailed study of the extended region around the GC in which an enhanced DM density is expected. The first Large-Sized Telescope (LST-1) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), located at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma, Spain) close to the MAGIC site, has been observing the GC since 2021. With its wide FoV of 4.5°, LST-1 could contribute significantly to the WIMPs search at the GC. The observations are performed at LZA (ZA > 58°), which, while required due to the source’s low altitude, also optimizes the detection of gamma rays up to 100 TeV and beyond. We present a study of the systematic uncertainties in WIMP line emission searches with LST-1. Our work examines the instrument response functions for LZA observations, background rejection in monoscopic mode, and includes updated results from simulations, highlighting new methods for spectral line searches.

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Line emission search from Dark Matter annihilation in the Galactic Center with LST-1 — S. Abe, Sofia Ventura, et al. · (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS