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Detection of Galactic Dark Matter by GLAST

A. Moiseev, J. Ormes, H. Arrighi, E. Bloom, C. Chaput, S. Digel, D. Engovatov, J. Norris, J. Silvis

astro-pharXiv:astro-ph/9912139

Abstract

The mysterious dark matter has been a subject of special interest to high energy physicists, astrophysicists and cosmologists for many years. According to theoretical models, it can make up a significant fraction of the mass of the Universe. One possible form of galactic dark matter, Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), could be detected by their annihilation into monoenergetic gamma-ray line(s). This paper will demonstrate that the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), scheduled for launch in 2005 by NASA, will be capable of searching for these gamma-ray lines in the energy range from 20 GeV to ~500 GeV and will be sufficiently sensitive to test a number of models. The required instrument performance and its capability to reject backgrounds to the required levels are explicitly discussed.

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