Dark Matter Annihilation and the Observed Positron Excess
by Garrett, Katherine, M.S., CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY, 2011, 75 pages; 1503495

Abstract:

The composition of dark matter remains an unsolved mystery in astroparticle physics and cosmology. State of the art experiments are searching for dark matter using two different methods: direct detection, in which a WIMP-like particle interacts with a detector in the laboratory, and indirect detection, in which products of dark matter annihilations such as neutrinos, gamma rays, and antimatter are detected. Recent results from two indirect detection experiments, PAMELA and Fermi, show a flux of positrons above the expected background signal; this positron excess may point toward a primary source of positrons that could be explained by dark matter annihilations. Utilizing DarkSUSY to generate supersymmetric models in which the neutralino is the dark matter, we find that no models generated in this study match the excess as seen by PAMELA and Fermi.
 
AdviserGintaras Duda
SchoolCREIGHTON UNIVERSITY
SourceMAI/ 50-03, p. , Jan 2012
Source TypeThesis
SubjectsAstrophysics
Publication Number1503495
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