Dark matter in the Galactic center

Abstract

In addition to boasting the highest density of baryonic matter in our galaxy, the center of the Milky Way is also believed to contain an extremely high density of dark matter particles. While dark matter is expected to be gravitationally subdominant to baryons near the Galactic center, many models allow for the annihilation of dark matter into standard model particles, a phenomenon which could be a significant source of high energy radiation in the Galactic center region. In fact, standard models of the dark matter density distribution and annihilation spectrum predict that dark matter at the Galactic center would (1) produce the brightest flux from dark matter annihilation of any region in the sky, and (2) contribute a significant portion of the total γ-ray luminosity observed within several degrees of the Galactic center by the Fermi/LAT. This makes the effort to understand and differentiate the morphologies and spectral features of dark matter and astrophysical γ-ray emission at the Galactic center potentially rewarding. Here, I will summarize the recent developments in indirect searches for dark matter annihilation at the Galactic center, and discuss several of the difficulties in producing accurate models of the high energy astrophysical emission. Finally, I will comment on current efforts to produce multi-wavelength models which better constrain or indicate a dark matter signal at the Galactic center. Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2014.