Robustness of the Galactic Center excess morphology against masking

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

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Original languageEnglish
Article number123017
Journal / PublicationPhysical Review D
Volume109
Issue number12
Online published11 Jun 2024
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jun 2024

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Abstract

The Galactic Center excess (GCE) remains an enduring mystery, with leading explanations being annihilating dark matter or an unresolved population of millisecond pulsars. Analyzing the morphology of the GCE provides critical clues to identify its exact origin. We investigate the robustness of the inferred GCE morphology against the effects of masking, an important step in the analysis where the gamma-ray emission from point sources and the galactic disk are excluded. Using different masks constructed from Fermi point source catalogs and a wavelet method, we find that the GCE morphology, particularly its ellipticity and cuspiness, is relatively independent of the choice of mask for energies above 2–3 GeV. The GCE morphology systematically favors an approximately spherical shape, as expected for dark matter annihilation. Compared to various stellar bulge profiles, a spherical dark matter annihilation profile better fits the data across different masks and galactic diffuse emission backgrounds, except for the stellar bulge profile from Coleman et al. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 495, 3350 (2020)., which provides a similar fit to the data. Modeling the GCE with two components, one from dark matter annihilation and one tracing the Coleman bulge, we find this two-component model outperforms any single component or combinations of dark matter annihilation and other stellar bulge profiles. Uncertainty remains about the exact fraction contributed by each component across different background models and masks. However, when the Coleman bulge dominates, its corresponding spectrum lacks characteristics typically associated with millisecond pulsars, suggesting that it mostly models the emission from other sources instead of the GCE that is still present and spherically symmetric.

© 2024 American Physical Society

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Robustness of the Galactic Center excess morphology against masking. / Zhong, Yi-Ming; Cholis, Ilias.
In: Physical Review D, Vol. 109, No. 12, 123017, 15.06.2024.

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

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