The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is a space-based particle detector launched on December 17th, 2015 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (China). The main goals of the DAMPE mission are the study of galactic cosmic rays (CR), the electron-positron energy spectrum, gamma-ray astronomy, and indirect dark matter search. Among its sub-detectors, the deep calorimeter makes DAMPE able to measure electrons and gamma-ray spectra up to 10 TeV, and CR nuclei spectra up to hundreds of TeV, with unprecedented energy resolution. This high-energy region is important in order to search for electron-positron sources, for dark matter signatures in space, and to clarify CR acceleration and propagation mechanisms inside our galaxy. A general overview of the DAMPE experiment will be presented in this work, along with its main results and ongoing activities.
DAMPE (Dark Matter Particle Explorer) is a satellite-born experiment launched in 2015 in a sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km altitude, and it has been taking data in stable conditions ever since. Its main goals include the spectral measurements up to very high energies, cosmic electrons/positrons and gamma rays up to tens of TeV, and protons and nuclei up to hundreds of TeV. The detector's main features include the 32 radiation lengths deep calorimeter and large geometric acceptance, making DAMPE one of the most powerful space instruments in operation, covering with high statistics and small sys…
The DAMPE (DArk Matter Particle Explorer) satellite was launched on December 17, 2015 and started its data taking operation a few days later. DAMPE has a large geometric factor ($\sim~0.3\ m^2\ sr$) and provides good tracking, calorimetric and charge measurements for electrons, gammas rays and nuclei. This will allow precise measurement of cosmic ray spectra from tens of $GeV$ up to about $100\ TeV$. In particular, the energy region between $1-100\ TeV$ will be explored with higher precision compared to previous experiments. The various subdetectors allow an efficient identification of the ele…
In the light of the latest measurements on the total $e^+ + e^-$ flux by CALET and DAMPE experiments, we revisit the multicomponent leptonically decaying dark matter (DM) explanations to the cosmic-ray electron/positron excesses observed previously. Especially, we use the single and double-component DM models to explore the compatibility of the AMS-02 positron fraction with the new CALET or DAMPE data. It turns out that neither single nor double-component DM models are able to fit the AMS-02 positron fraction and DAMPE total $e^+ + e^-$ flux data simultaneously. On the other hand, for the comb…
The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) mission revealed a break in the spectrum of cosmic-ray electons and positrons. This is associated with an excess above the expected backgrounds at energies around 1 TeV. Several authors have argued that such an excess can be explained in terms of dark matter models that feature heavy leptophilic WIMPs. These models, however, require some form annihilation enchancement above that expected from the Milky-Way galactic centre. This can take the form of either a local over-density near to our solar system or some form of Sommerfeld enhancement of the annihi…
The measurement of the energy spectrum of cosmic ray helium nuclei from 70 GeV to 80 TeV using 4.5 years of data recorded by the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is reported in this work. A hardening of the spectrum is observed at an energy of about 1.3 TeV, similar to previous observations. In addition, a spectral softening at about 34 TeV is revealed for the first time with large statistics and well controlled systematic uncertainties, with an overall significance of $4.3σ$. The DAMPE spectral measurements of both cosmic protons and helium nuclei suggest a particle charge dependent soft…
IceCube is the first representative of the km^3 class of neutrino telescopes and currently the most sensitive detector to high-energy neutrinos. Its main mission is to search for Galactic and extragalactic sources of high-energy neutrinos, but it is also an excellent detector for the investigation of a variety of other highly topical astrophysics and particle physics topics like supernovae, dark matter and neutrino oscillations. After an introduction to neutrino astronomy and neutrino telescopes, this article presents a selection of latest results from the IceCube neutrino detector with respec…
The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), one of the four scientific space science missions within the framework of the Strategic Pioneer Program on Space Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is a general purpose high energy cosmic-ray and gamma-ray observatory, which was successfully launched on December 17th, 2015 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The DAMPE scientific objectives include the study of galactic cosmic rays up to $\sim 10$ TeV and hundreds of TeV for electrons/gammas and nuclei respectively, and the search for dark matter signatures in their spectra. In this pape…
Current experimental data on cosmic-ray charged leptons are briefly reviewed including measurements of the positron fraction, electron and positron spectra and inclusive electron+positron data. Precision measurements by PAMELA and AMS-02 of the positron spectrum and its striking difference from the electron spectrum have prompted several theoretical speculations. In order to discriminate among different interpretations of the 'positron anomaly', a major step is needed to achieve an accurate direct measurement of the shape of the inclusive electron spectrum beyond 1 TeV. Ongoing efforts along t…
In the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) the lightest superparticle (LSP) can be a TeV neutralino (mainly dominated by higgsino or wino) which serves as a dark matter candidate with correct thermal relic density. In this work we confront the 1-2 TeV neutralino dark matter with the latest direct and indirect detections from PandaX and AMS-02/DAMPE. Considering various scenarios with decoupled sfermions, with \textit{A}-mediated annihilation, with squark or stop coannihilation, we find that the parameter space is stringently constrained by the direct detection limits. In the allowed p…
We describe the instrument concept of a high angular resolution telescope dedicated to the sub-GeV (from $\gtrsim$10 MeV to $\gtrsim$1 GeV) gamma-ray photon detection. This mission, named PANGU (PAir-productioN Gamma-ray Unit), has been suggested as a candidate for the joint small mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS). A wide range of topics of both astronomy and fundamental physics can be attacked with PANGU, covering Galactic and extragalactic cosmic-ray physics, extreme physics of a variety of extended (e.g. supernova remnants, galaxies, ga…
