Tentative observation of a gamma-ray line at the Fermi LAT

Abstract

Using 43 months of public gamma-ray data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope, we find in regions close to the Galactic center at energies of 130 GeV a 4.6 sigma excess that is not inconsistent with a gamma-ray line from dark matter annihilation. When taking into account the look-elsewhere effect, the significance of the observed signature is 3.2 sigma. If interpreted in terms of dark matter particles annihilating into a photon pair, the observations imply a partial annihilation cross-section of about 10^-27 cm^3s^-1 and a dark matter mass around 130 GeV. We review aspects of the statistical analysis and comment on possible instrumental indications.

Comments: 4 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on High-Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy (Gamma2012)