A search for signatures of dark matter in the AMS-01 electron and antiproton spectrum

Abstract

If dark matter consists of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), such as the supersymmetric neutralino, various theories predict that their annihilation in the galaxy can give rise to anomalous features in the otherwise smooth spectra of charged cosmic rays. Up to now searches for these spectral anomalies have focused largely on antiparticles (p, e+) due to their lower astrophysical backgrounds. In this thesis we present results of a search for dark matter annihilation in the charge Z = -1 spectrum of AMS-01 (essentially electrons and antiprotons). To avoid model dependent complications we assume that the primary annihilation channel is through W+W- production. We use the galactic propagation software GALPROP to determine the dark matter spectra at Earth from a smooth isothermal source. Fits to the data did not reveal any contribution from dark matter and limits were placed on the rate of W+W- production in the galaxy and on the corresponding cross-section for WIMP annihilation through the W+W- channel (given a smooth isothermal distribution).