Probing the ATIC peak in the cosmic-ray electron spectrum with H.E.S.S.

TLDR: In this article, the authors present a measurement of the cosmic-ray electron spectrum with H.E.S. starting at 340 GeV and show no indication of a structure in the electron spectrum, but rather a power-law spectrum with spectral index of 3.0 +- 0.1 (stat.) + − 0.3 (syst.) which steepens at about 1 TeV.

Abstract: The measurement of an excess in the cosmic-ray electron spectrum between 300 and 800 GeV by the ATIC experiment has - together with the PAMELA detection of a rise in the positron fraction up to 100 GeV - motivated many interpretations in terms of dark matter scenarios; alternative explanations assume a nearby electron source like a pulsar or supernova remnant. Here we present a measurement of the cosmic-ray electron spectrum with H.E.S.S. starting at 340 GeV. The H.E.S.S. data with their lower statistical errors show no indication of a structure in the electron spectrum, but rather a power-law spectrum with spectral index of 3.0 +- 0.1 (stat.) +- 0.3 (syst.) which steepens at about 1 TeV.