Searching for Heavy Dark Matter Annihilation with the HAWC Observatory

Understanding dark matter’s elusive nature is crucial for the framework of particle physics and the standard model. This experiment utilizes the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-ray Observatory to indirectly detect dark matter (DM) by studying gamma-ray emissions from dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs). Selected for their high ratio of dark matter to baryonic matter, dSphs are useful for this type of detection. HAWC expanded its previous study by increasing the number of dSphs and the amount of data collected on each. We searched for DM signals in each dSph using an updated reconstruction algorithm that greatly improves HAWC’s energy reconstruction and angular resolution. The project established limits for the velocity-weighted DM annihilation cross-section, given the absence of a signal from DM-DM annihilation <σv>.