On the sensitivity of CTA to gamma-ray boxes from multi-TeV dark matter

Understand

Collider, direct and indirect searches for dark matter have typically little or no sensitivity to weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with masses above a few TeV.

• This rather unexplored regime can however be probed through the search for distinctive gamma-ray spectral features produced by the annihilation of WIMPs at very high energies.
• Here we present a dedicated search for gamma-ray boxes -- sharp spectral features that cannot be mimicked by astrophysical sources -- with the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA).
• Using realistic projections for the instrument performance and detailed background modelling, a profile likelihood analysis is implemented to derive the expected upper limits and sensitivity reach after 100 h of observations towards a $2^\circ\times2^\circ$ region around the Galactic centre.