Reacción a "The Fermi space telescope detects gamma rays that could come from the decay of dark matter particles"

Is the research of good quality?

“Yes. It is of good quality. It follows the standards and the conclusions are discussed in accordance with these.”

What are the implications of this finding?

"It depends on whether the explanation that gamma rays are produced by the decay of dark matter is confirmed in the future. If it is confirmed, then it would be very important because it would allow us to identify which physical models of dark matter are viable and which are not. But we are far from being able to make this confirmation.“

Is it correct to say, as in the press release, that this could be ”the first time that dark matter has been ‘seen’"?

"It is not correct, nor is it what the author of the scientific article says. He only says that an excess of gamma rays has been detected slightly outside the galactic center that could be compatible with the decay of dark matter particles.

Nor is it the ‘first time’ that an excess of gamma rays has been detected in the Milky Way. The author mentions previous studies in his article: ‘The so-called GC GeV excess with a sharp morphological peak at the GC, which may be a result of dark matter annihilation, has been found around a photon energy of a few GeV [7, 8, 35, 36]’ (GC stands for galactic center of the Milky Way).

Are there any important limitations to consider?

"Many, as is almost always the case in astrophysics. The work interprets a signal that could be caused by conventional astrophysical sources and by the decay of dark matter. Both must be modeled to conclude that the observed signal is incompatible with known sources and compatible with what would be expected from dark matter. Both models are highly uncertain. There is uncertainty in the contribution of astrophysical sources (e.g., Fermi Bubbles) and uncertainty in the expected signal from dark matter (e.g., the distribution and density of the Milky Way's dark matter halo are unknown).