Have Atmospheric Cerenkov Telescopes Observed Dark Matter?

Abstract

Two ground-based experiments have recently independently detected TeV $\gamma$-rays from the direction of the Galactic center. The observations made by the VERITAS and CANGAROO collaborations are unexpected, although not impossible to interpret in terms of astrophysical sources. Here we examine in detail whether the observed $\gamma$-rays may arise from the more exotic alternative of annihilations of dark matter particles clustered in the center of the Galaxy.