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Constraints on decaying dark matter from XMM-Newton observations of M31

Boyarsky, Alexey ; Iakubovskyi, Dmytro ; Ruchayskiy, Oleg ; Savchenko, Vladimir

In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2008, vol. 387, no. 4, p. 1361-1373

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    Title
    • Constraints on decaying dark matter from XMM-Newton observations of M31
    Author
    • Boyarsky, Alexey. PH-TH, CERN, CH-1211 Geneve 23, Switzerland
    • Iakubovskyi, Dmytro. Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kiev 03780, Ukraine
    • Ruchayskiy, Oleg. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Institute of Theoretical Physics, FSB/ITP/LPPC, BSP 720, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
    • Savchenko, Vladimir. Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kiev 03780, Ukraine
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:300513
    Summary
    We derive constraints on the parameters of the radiatively decaying dark matter (DM) particle, using the XMM-Newton EPIC spectra of the Andromeda galaxy (M31). Using the observations of the outer (5-13 arcmin) parts of M31, we improve the existing constraints. For the case of sterile neutrino DM, combining our constraints with the latest computation of abundances of sterile neutrinos in the Dodelson-Widrow (DW) scenario, we obtain the lower mass limit ms < 4 keV, which is stronger than the previous one ms < 6 keV, obtained recently by Asaka, Laine & Shaposhnikov. Comparing this limit with the most recent results on Lyman α forest analysis of Viel et al. (ms > 5.6 keV), we argue that the scenario in which all the DM is produced via the DW mechanism is ruled out. We discuss, however, other production mechanisms and note that the sterile neutrino remains a viable candidate for DM, either warm or cold