An Excited Dark Matter Solution to the MeV Galactic Center Excesses
Abstract
Recent COMPTEL data analysis reveals a 2 MeV continuum excess whose spatial distribution closely matches the long-standing 511 keV line observed by INTEGRAL/SPI, indicating a common population of low-energy positrons that is difficult to reconcile with known astrophysical sources or standard thermal dark matter (DM). We show that a minimal Excited Dark Matter (XDM) model naturally explains these features. In this scenario a DM particle is inelastically upscattered into an excited state , followed by de-excitation producing 2 MeV positrons that reproduce the 511 keV line morphology and the COMPTEL MeV continuum. Using a full cosmic-ray (CR) propagation treatment, we obtain an excellent fit for 1.5 TeV DM particle with mass-splitting 4 MeV for an inelastic geometric scattering cross section of . The same positrons supply a substantial, radially flat contribution to the anomalous Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) ionization rate. This is the first unified treatment of XDM-induced positrons across all three observables, yielding correlated MeV signatures testable by upcoming missions targeting the Galactic MeV band.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.13797,
title = {An Excited Dark Matter Solution to the MeV Galactic Center Excesses},
author = {Shyam Balaji and Damon Cleaver and Pedro De la Torre Luque},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.13797},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
10 pages plus appendices and references, 8 figures