ATIC, PAMELA, HESS, and Fermi data and nearby dark matter subhalos

We study the local flux of electrons and positrons from annihilating dark matter (DM), and investigate how its spectrum depends on the choice of DM model and inhomogeneities in the DM distribution. Below a cutoff energy, the flux is expected to have a universal power-law form with an index n-2. The cutoff energy and the behavior of the flux near the cutoff is model dependent. The dependence on the DM host halo profile may be significant at energies E-2. Using the Via Lactea II simulation, we estimate the probability of such subhalo effects in a generic Sommerfeld-enhanced model to be at least 4%, and possibly as high as 15% if subhalos below the simulation's resolution limit are accounted for. We discuss the consequences of these results for the interpretation of the ATIC, PAMELA, HESS, and Fermi data, as well as for future experiments.