Dark matter subhaloes as gamma-ray sources and candidates in the first

The standard paradigm of hierarchical structure formation in a ΛCDM universe predicts the presence of dark matter subhaloes, hosted by Milky Way-sized galaxies. Anticipated subhalo masses range from 1010 down to a cut-off mass between 10-3 and 10-11 M⊙. If dark matter is composed of heavy self-annihilating or decaying particles, these subhaloes could be visible in the γ-ray band as faint and temporally constant sources without astrophysical counterparts. Based upon realistic subhalo models and current observational constraints on annihilating dark matter scenarios, we predict that one massive Galactic subhalo between 106 and 108 M⊙ may already be present in the 11-month catalogue of Fermi-LAT. Indeed, at least twelve objects in the first Fermi catalogue qualify as candidates. The most promising object, 1FGL J0030.7+072