Speaker
Description
A prediction of the standard LCDM cosmological model is that dark matter (DM) halos are teeming with numerous self-bound substructure, or subhalos. The most massive ones host the observed dwarf satellite galaxies, while smaller subhalos may host no stars/gas at all and thus may have no visible astrophysical counterparts and would remain completely dark. Yet, some of these ‘dark satellites’ are expected to be excellent targets for gamma-ray DM searches given their typical distances and structural properties. In this talk, I will discuss the importance that DM subhalos may have for DM searches with present or future gamma-ray observatories, such as the NASA Fermi satellite and the future Cherenkov telescope array (CTA). I will also describe the recent efforts we have made to search for dark satellites in Fermi-LAT data and to set constraints on the nature of the DM particle using these elusive targets.
