Determine the nature of dark matter

Determine the fundamental particle nature of cosmological dark matter, including identifying its constituent particles and their properties, as required to explain astronomical evidence for a large amount of dark matter in the universe.

Background

The paper opens by noting that astronomical observations compellingly indicate the presence of substantial dark matter in the universe, yet its underlying particle identity and properties are not established. This general uncertainty motivates indirect detection efforts, such as the analysis performed here using AMS-02 antiproton data to test dark matter interpretations of a gamma-ray excess.

The authors’ broader context is the evaluation of dark matter annihilation signals in cosmic rays and gamma rays, highlighting that, despite multiple proposed candidates (e.g., WIMPs), the fundamental nature of dark matter remains unresolved.

References

The nature of the dark matter however remains unclear.

— Constraining the dark matter origin of the halo-like 20 GeV $γ$-ray excess with the AMS-02 antiproton data  (2512.12176 - Wang et al., 13 Dec 2025) in Section 1, Introduction