Cosmic ray signatures of decaying dark matter

Abstract

Astrophysical and cosmological observations do not require the dark matter particles to be absolutely stable. If they are indeed unstable, their decay into Standard Model particles might occur at a sufficiently large rate to allow the indirect detection of dark matter through an anomalous contribution to the high energy cosmic ray fluxes. We analyze the implications of the excess in the total electron plus positron flux and the positron fraction reported by the Fermi and PAMELA collaborations, respectively, for the scenario of decaying dark matter. We also discuss the constraints on this scenario from measurements of other cosmic ray species and the predictions for the diffuse gamma ray flux and the neutrino flux. In particular, we expect a sizable dipole-like anisotropy which may be observed in the near future by the Fermi-LAT.