Cosmic-ray antiprotons in the AMS-02 era: A sensitive probe of dark matter

Cosmic-ray antiprotons are a powerful tool for astroparticle physics. While the bulk of measured antiprotons is consistent with a secondary origin, the precise data of the AMS-02 experiment provides us with encouraging prospects to search for a subdominant primary component, e.g. from dark matter. In this brief review, we discuss recent limits on heavy dark matter as well as a tentative signal from annihilation of dark matter with a mass less than or similar to 100 GeV. We emphasize the special role of systematic errors that can affect the signal. In particular, we discuss recent progress in the modeling of secondary production cross-sections and correlated errors in the AMS-02 data, the dominant ones originating from uncertainties in the cross-sections for cosmic-ray absorption in the detector.

Automated summary

Cosmic-ray antiprotons are a valuable tool in astroparticle physics, with the AMS-02 experiment data providing prospects for investigating dark matter. Systematic errors play a crucial role in affecting the signal, especially in the modeling of secondary production cross-sections and uncertainties in cosmic-ray absorption cross-sections in the detector.