Search for dark matter in compact hydrogen clouds

Abstract

The recently published Galactic Arecibo L-Band Feed Array-H I Compact Cloud Catalogue lists 20 neutral hydrogen clouds that might pinpoint previously undiscovered high-latitude dwarf galaxies. Detection of an associated gamma-ray dark matter signal could provide a route to distinguish unambiguously between truly dark-matter-dominated systems that have accumulated neutral hydrogen but have not successfully ignited star formation and pure gaseous structures devoid of dark matter. We use 4.3 years of Fermi observations to derive gamma-ray flux upper limits in the 1-300 GeV energy range for the sample. Limits on gamma rays from pair annihilation of dark matter are also presented depending on the yet unknown astrophysical factors. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.