The Indirect Detection of Halo Dark Matter

Abstract

High energy particles are produced by the annihilation of dark matter particles in our galaxy. These are presently searched for using balloon-borne antiproton and positron detectors and large area, deep underground neutrino telescopes. Dark matter particles, trapped inside the sun, are an abundant source of such neutrinos. From both the cosmological and particle physics points of view the lightest, stable supersymmetric particle or neutralino is arguably the leading dark matter candidate. Its mass is bracketed by a minimum value of order a few tens of GeV, determined from unsuccessful accelerator searches, and a maximum value of order 1~TeV imposed by particle physics as well as cosmological constraints. Back-of-the-envelope calculations are sufficient to demonstrate how present neutrino telescopes are competitive with existing and future particle colliders such as the LHC in the search for supersymmetry. We emphasize that a $1\,\rm km^2$ area is the natural scale for a future instrument capable of probing the full GeV--TeV neutralino mass range by searching for high energy neutrinos produced by their annihilation in the sun.