Study of the very high energy gamma-ray spectrum from the Galactic Center and future prospects

Ground-based gamma-ray observations of the Galactic Center region have revealed a high energy gamma-ray source spatially coincident with the gravitational centroid of our Galaxy. The pointlike emission detected by HESS exhibits an energy cutoff at about 10 TeV. We identify the parameters of the best fit of the exponential and the superexponential cutoff models to the spectrum of the pointlike source and find that the superexponential one provides a similar quality of fit to the spectrum of the pointlike source as the best-fit exponential cutoff model, while a dark matter interpretation does not provide as good a fit in the whole energy range of the signal. Based on the magnitude of the flux we derive constraints in the plane of the slope of the density profile. and the critical radius, below which the density is assumed to be constant, r(c). Motivated by recent results on the spectrum and morphology from HESS and by the possible observation of a superexponential cutoff, we forecast the observations of superexponential versus exponential cutoffs by the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array. We derive a formula for J-factor in the small-angle approximation and propose approximate morphological constraints on the central source.