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The Hidden Friend's Wake: Dark Matter and a Binary at the Galactic Center

ORAL

Abstract

Recent dynamical evidence suggests that Sgr A*, the massive object at the center of the Milky Way, may be a binary of two black holes rather than a single black hole. The existence of such a binary has dynamical consequences for the distribution of dark matter at the galactic center, with dramatic implications for dark matter annihilation signals. We show that the existence of a binary companion would significantly relax constraints on the dark matter annihilation cross-section from the galactic center, and would substantially weaken the case for dark matter annihilation as the origin of the claimed galactic center excess.

Publication: Paper "The Hidden Friend's Wake: Dark Matter and a Binary at the Galactic Center" is currently under review.

Presenters

  • Samuel English

    University of California, Santa Cruz

Authors

  • Samuel English

    University of California, Santa Cruz

  • Benjamin Lehmann

    University of California, Santa Cruz

  • Stefano Profumo

    University of California, Santa Cruz