Indirect searches for decaying dark matter

Open Access
Authors
Publication date 30-10-2013
Journal International Journal of Modern Physics A
Article number 1330040
Volume | Issue number 28 | 27
Organisations
  • Faculty of Science (FNWI) - Institute of Physics (IoP) - Institute for Theoretical Physics Amsterdam (ITFA)
Abstract

Numerous observations point towards the existence of an unknown elementary particle with no electromagnetic interactions, a large population of which was presumably produced in the early stages of the history of the Universe. This so-called dark matter has survived until the present day, accounting for the 26% of the present energy budget of the Universe. It remains an open question whether the particles comprising the dark matter are absolutely stable or whether they have a finite but very long lifetime, which is a possibility since there is no known general principle guaranteeing perfect stability. In this paper, we review the observational limits on the lifetime of dark matter particles with mass in the GeV-TeV range using observations of the cosmic fluxes of antimatter, gamma-rays and neutrinos. We also examine some theoretically motivated scenarios that provide decaying dark matter candidates.

Document type Review article
Language English
Published at https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X13300408
Other links https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84887310264
Downloads
1307.6434 (Submitted manuscript)
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