Speaker
Dr
Matthew Walker
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Description
Of all galaxy types, the Milky Way's dwarf spheroidal (dSph) satellites have the
largest inferred dark matter densities and smallest measured baryonic masses. These
facts combine to make dSphs attractive targets for indirect detection of dark matter
via self-annihilation and/or decay events. A detection (or non-detection) of
high-energy photons that might be released in such processes constrains the nature of
the dark matter particle only insofar as we know the distribution of dark matter
within the emitting halo. I will discuss the inference of dSph dark matter
distributions from observed stellar kinematics, placing particular emphasis on the
potential for systematic errors. In this context I will then present an analysis of
dSph stellar kinematics that makes minimal assumptions about the shape of the
underlying dark matter density profile. This analysis yields up-to-date constraints
on the 'astrophysical' component of a dark matter signal that can then be applied to
current and future observations aimed at indirect detection.
Primary author
Dr
Matthew Walker
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
