Detection prospects for heavy WIMP dark matter around M31* in microwave band

This work analyzes the detection prospects for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) in dark matter (DM) density spike around the supermassive black hole (SMBH) in Andromeda galaxy M31 in microwave band. WIMP annihilation produces relativistic electrons and positrons, which generate the synchrotron emission in strong magnetic field of the accretion flow medium at microwave frequencies. Properties of this emission, as well as their dependence on DM and medium parameters, were modeled. Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) sensitivity to this emission and underlying WIMP parameters was estimated. It was obtained that M31* in microwave band represents the unique target, where DM spike signal can be detected in case of realistic spike and halo density profiles. In such case ALMA may reach the thermal s-wave annihilating WIMPs with masses up to around 1 TeV with just 10--100 hours exposure. Optimistic parameter configurations may allow probing all possible WIMP masses up to 100 TeV. Related systematic uncertainties are discussed.

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Authors

Andrei E. Egorov

Published

Sep 8, 2026

Paper type

preprint

Source

Arxiv