Simona Murgia

Dark matter interpretation of the <i>Fermi</i>-LAT observation toward the Galactic Center

Physical review. D/Physical review. D. · 2017-05-05 · 95 citations

The center of the Milky Way is predicted to be the brightest region of $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-rays generated by self-annihilating dark matter particles. Excess emission about the Galactic center above predictions made for standard astrophysical processes has been observed in $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray data collected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. It is well described by the square of a Navarro, Frenk, and White dark matter density distribution. Although other interpretations for the excess are…

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE DETECTION OF EXTENDED GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM THE RADIO GALAXY FORNAX A

The Astrophysical Journal · 2016-07-14 · 78 citations

ABSTRACT We report the Fermi Large Area Telescope detection of extended γ -ray emission from the lobes of the radio galaxy Fornax A using 6.1 years of Pass 8 data. After Centaurus A, this is now the second example of an extended γ -ray source attributed to a radio galaxy. Both an extended flat disk morphology and a morphology following the extended radio lobes were preferred over a point-source description, and the core contribution was constrained to be % of the total γ -ray flux. A preferred a…

The <i>Fermi</i>–LAT Galactic Center Excess: Evidence of Annihilating Dark Matter?

Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science · 2020-10-19 · 57 citations

The center of the Galaxy is one of the prime targets in the search for a signal of annihilating (or decaying) dark matter. If such a signal were to be detected, it would shed light on one of the biggest mysteries in physics today: What is dark matter? Fundamental properties of the particle nature of dark matter, such as its mass, annihilation cross section, and annihilation final states, could be measured for the first time. Several experiments have searched for such a signal, and some have meas…

Probing the Fundamental Nature of Dark Matter with the Large Synoptic\n Survey Telescope

eScholarship (California Digital Library) · 2019-02-19 · 47 citations

Astrophysical and cosmological observations currently provide the only\nrobust, empirical measurements of dark matter. Future observations with Large\nSynoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will provide necessary guidance for the\nexperimental dark matter program. This white paper represents a community\neffort to summarize the science case for studying the fundamental physics of\ndark matter with LSST. We discuss how LSST will inform our understanding of the\nfundamental properties of dark matter, su…

Fermi-LAT Observations of γ-Ray Emission toward the Outer Halo of M31

The Astrophysical Journal · 2019-07-30 · 43 citations

Abstract The Andromeda galaxy is the closest spiral galaxy to us and has been the subject of numerous studies. It harbors a massive dark matter halo, which may span up to ∼600 kpc across and comprises ∼90% of the galaxy’s total mass. This halo size translates into a large diameter of 42° on the sky, for an M31–Milky Way (MW) distance of 785 kpc, but its presumably low surface brightness makes it challenging to detect with γ -ray telescopes. Using 7.6 yr of Fermi Large Area Telescope ( Fermi –LAT…