4.7 Article

Exciting dark matter and the INTEGRAL/SPI 511 keV signal

Journal

PHYSICAL REVIEW D
Volume 76, Issue 8, Pages -

Publisher

AMER PHYSICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.76.083519

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We propose a dark matter candidate with an excited state 1-2 MeV above the ground state, which may be collisionally excited and deexcites by e(+) e(-) pair emission. By converting its kinetic energy into pairs, such a particle could produce a substantial fraction of the 511 keV line observed by the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory/SPI in the inner Milky Way. Only a small fraction of the dark matter candidates have sufficient energy to excite, and that fraction drops sharply with galactocentric radius, naturally yielding a radial cutoff, as observed. Even if the scattering probability in the inner kpc is << 1% per Hubble time, enough power is available to produce the similar to 3 x 10(42) pairs per second observed in the galactic bulge. We specify the parameters of a pseudo-Dirac fermion designed to explain the positron signal, and find that it annihilates chiefly to e(+) e(-) and freezes out with the correct relic density. We discuss possible observational consequences of this model.

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