- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review D

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Leptophilic dark matter in U(1)Li−Lj models: A solution to the Fermi-LAT Galactic Center excess consistent with cosmological and laboratory observations

Jordan Koechler* and Mattia Di Mauro†

  • *Contact author: jordan.koechler@gmail.com
  • †Contact author: dimauro.mattia@gmail.com
PDF

Phys. Rev. D 112, 115016 – Published 4 December, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/nw98-38vr

Abstract

The particle origin of dark matter (DM) remains elusive despite decades of direct, indirect, and collider searches. Several groups have reported a γ-ray excess toward the Galactic Center commonly referred to as the Galactic Center excess (GCE). Its spectrum is consistent with annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) of mass O(10−100)  GeV and a thermal-relic cross section. Although many concrete WIMP models reproduce the GCE spectrum, most are now excluded by direct detection experiments that are approaching the neutrino floor. We investigate a class of anomaly-free extensions of the Standard Model featuring gauged differences of lepton number, U(1)Li−Lj, and gauged baryon minus lepton number, U(1)B−L. We show that these models can reproduce the GCE while remaining compatible with the observed relic abundance. We then impose collider and direct detection constraints, accounting for both tree-level and loop-induced kinetic mixing. The Lμ−Le model gives the best fit to the GCE: a DM mass of mχ∼40−50  GeV remains consistent with the muon and electron magnetic moment anomalies, (g−2)μ,e, as well as current collider and direct detection limits, for mediator masses in the range mA′∼70−86  GeV and a DM mediator coupling of (1−5)×10−2. By contrast, the Le−Lτ and Lμ−Lτ models yield poorer fits; satisfying both the relic density and experimental bounds forces the DM mass to lie very close to resonance (i.e. approximately half the mediator mass). Finally, while the B−L model also matches the GCE well, its parameter space is almost entirely ruled out by strong direct detection limits, except for the narrow resonance region where mχ should be equal to mA′/2 requiring a fine-tuning at the few-percent level.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (124)

  1. M. Cirelli, A. Strumia, and J. Zupan, arXiv:2406.01705.
  2. J. M. Gaskins, Contemp. Phys. 57, 496 (2016).
  3. M. Schumann, J. Phys. G 46, 103003 (2019).
  4. A. Boveia and C. Doglioni, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 68, 429 (2018).
  5. M. Di Mauro, F. Donato, N. Fornengo, and A. Vittino, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 05 (2016) 031.
  6. M. Di Mauro and F. Donato, Phys. Rev. D 91, 123001 (2015).
  7. A. Cuoco, J. Heisig, M. Korsmeier, and M. Krämer, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 10 (2017) 053.
  8. Y. Génolini, M. Boudaud, M. Cirelli, L. Derome, J. Lavalle, D. Maurin, P. Salati, and N. Weinrich, Phys. Rev. D 104, 083005 (2021).
  9. M. Di Mauro and M. W. Winkler, Phys. Rev. D 103, 123005 (2021).
  10. A. McDaniel, M. Ajello, C. M. Karwin, M. Di Mauro, A. Drlica-Wagner, and M. A. Sánchez-Conde, Phys. Rev. D 109, 063024 (2024).
  11. S. Balan, F. Kahlhoefer, M. Korsmeier, S. Manconi, and K. Nippel, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 08 (2023) 052.
  12. L. Pieri, J. Lavalle, G. Bertone, and E. Branchini, Phys. Rev. D 83, 023518 (2011).
  13. L. Goodenough and D. Hooper, arXiv:0910.2998.
  14. D. Hooper and L. Goodenough, Phys. Lett. B 697, 412 (2011).
  15. A. Boyarsky, D. Malyshev, and O. Ruchayskiy, Phys. Lett. B 705, 165 (2011).
  16. D. Hooper and T. Linden, Phys. Rev. D 84, 123005 (2011).
  17. K. N. Abazajian and M. Kaplinghat, Phys. Rev. D 86, 083511 (2012); 87, 129902(E) (2013).
  18. C. Gordon and O. Macias, Phys. Rev. D 88, 083521 (2013); 89, 049901(E) (2014).
  19. K. N. Abazajian, N. Canac, S. Horiuchi, and M. Kaplinghat, Phys. Rev. D 90, 023526 (2014).
  20. T. Daylan, D. P. Finkbeiner, D. Hooper, T. Linden, S. K. N. Portillo, N. L. Rodd, and T. R. Slatyer, Phys. Dark Universe 12, 1 (2016).
  21. F. Calore, I. Cholis, C. McCabe, and C. Weniger, Phys. Rev. D 91, 063003 (2015).
  22. F. Calore, I. Cholis, and C. Weniger, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 03 (2015) 038.
  23. M. Ajello et al. (Fermi-LAT Collaboration), Astrophys. J. 819, 44 (2016).
  24. M. Ackermann et al. (Fermi-LAT Collaboration), Astrophys. J. 840, 43 (2017).
  25. M. Di Mauro, X. Hou, C. Eckner, G. Zaharijas, and E. Charles, Phys. Rev. D 99, 123027 (2019).
  26. M. Di Mauro, Phys. Rev. D 103, 063029 (2021).
  27. I. Cholis, Y.-M. Zhong, S. D. McDermott, and J. P. Surdutovich, Phys. Rev. D 105, 103023 (2022).
  28. R. Bartels, S. Krishnamurthy, and C. Weniger, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 051102 (2016).
  29. S. K. Lee, M. Lisanti, B. R. Safdi, T. R. Slatyer, and W. Xue, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 051103 (2016).
  30. O. Macias, C. Gordon, R. M. Crocker, B. Coleman, D. Paterson, S. Horiuchi, and M. Pohl, Nat. Astron. 2, 387 (2018).
  31. R. Bartels, E. Storm, C. Weniger, and F. Calore, Nat. Astron. 2, 819 (2018).
  32. S. Manconi, F. Calore, and F. Donato, Phys. Rev. D 109, 123042 (2024).
  33. R. K. Leane and T. R. Slatyer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 241101 (2019).
  34. L. J. Chang, S. Mishra-Sharma, M. Lisanti, M. Buschmann, N. L. Rodd, and B. R. Safdi, Phys. Rev. D 101, 023014 (2020).
  35. Y.-M. Zhong, S. D. McDermott, I. Cholis, and P. J. Fox, Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 231103 (2020).
  36. F. Calore, F. Donato, and S. Manconi, Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 161102 (2021).
  37. F. List, Y. Park, N. L. Rodd, E. Schoen, and F. Wolf, arXiv:2507.17804.
  38. N. Aghanim et al. (Planck Collaboration), arXiv:1807.06209.
  39. A. A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, W. B. Atwood et al., Astrophys. J. 712, 147 (2010).
  40. M. Ackermann et al. (Fermi-LAT Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 231301 (2015).
  41. A. Lopez, C. Savage, D. Spolyar, and D. Q. Adams, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 03 (2016) 033.
  42. A. Albert et al. (Fermi-LAT and DES Collaborations), Astrophys. J. 834, 110 (2017).
  43. F. Calore, P. D. Serpico, and B. Zaldivar, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 10 (2018) 029.
  44. S. Hoof, A. Geringer-Sameth, and R. Trotta, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 02 (2020) 012.
  45. A. B. Pace and L. E. Strigari, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 482, 3480 (2019).
  46. F. Calore, M. Cirelli, L. Derome, Y. Genolini, D. Maurin, P. Salati, and P. D. Serpico, SciPost Phys. 12, 163 (2022).
  47. M. Di Mauro, C. Arina, N. Fornengo, J. Heisig, and D. Massaro, Phys. Rev. D 108, 095008 (2023).
  48. R. Foot, Mod. Phys. Lett. A 06, 527 (1991).
  49. X. G. He, G. C. Joshi, H. Lew, and R. R. Volkas, Phys. Rev. D 43, R22 (1991).
  50. J. Heeck and W. Rodejohann, Phys. Rev. D 84, 075007 (2011).
  51. M. Bauer, P. Foldenauer, and J. Jaeckel, J. High Energy Phys. 07 (2018) 094.
  52. B. Abi et al. (Muon g−2 Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 141801 (2021).
  53. D. P. Aguillard et al. (Muon g−2 Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 161802 (2023).
  54. G. W. Bennett et al. (Muon g−2 Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 73, 072003 (2006).
  55. R. Aliberti et al., Phys. Rep. 1143, 1 (2025).
  56. C. Burgess, C. de Rham, D. Hoover, and A. J. Tolley, Phys. Rev. D 78, 064042 (2008).
  57. C. Degrande, C. Duhr, B. Fuks, D. Grellscheid, O. Mattelaer, and T. Reiter, Comput. Phys. Commun. 183, 1201 (2012).
  58. A. Belyaev, N. D. Christensen, and A. Pukhov, Comput. Phys. Commun. 184, 1729 (2013).
  59. A. Alloul, N. D. Christensen, C. Degrande, C. Duhr, and B. Fuks, Comput. Phys. Commun. 185, 2250 (2014).
  60. M. Backovic, K. Kong, and M. McCaskey, Phys. Dark Universe 5–6, 18 (2014).
  61. F. Ambrogi, C. Arina, M. Backovic, J. Heisig, F. Maltoni, L. Mantani, O. Mattelaer, and G. Mohlabeng, Phys. Dark Universe 24, 100249 (2019).
  62. C. Arina, J. Heisig, F. Maltoni, D. Massaro, and O. Mattelaer, Eur. Phys. J. C 83, 241 (2023).
  63. G. Belanger, F. Boudjema, A. Pukhov, and A. Semenov, Comput. Phys. Commun. 176, 367 (2007).
  64. G. Belanger, F. Boudjema, A. Pukhov, and A. Semenov, Comput. Phys. Commun. 185, 960 (2014).
  65. G. Bélanger, F. Boudjema, A. Goudelis, A. Pukhov, and B. Zaldivar, Comput. Phys. Commun. 231, 173 (2018).
  66. G. Alguero, G. Belanger, F. Boudjema, S. Chakraborti, A. Goudelis, S. Kraml, A. Mjallal, and A. Pukhov, Comput. Phys. Commun. 299, 109133 (2024).
  67. T. Hapitas, D. Tuckler, and Y. Zhang, Phys. Rev. D 105, 016014 (2022).
  68. R. Aaij et al. (LHCb Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 041801 (2020).
  69. X. Fan, T. G. Myers, B. A. D. Sukra, and G. Gabrielse, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 071801 (2023).
  70. T. Aoyama, T. Kinoshita, and M. Nio, Phys. Rev. D 97, 036001 (2018).
  71. B. Holdom, Phys. Lett. 166B, 196 (1986).
  72. N. Aghanim et al. (Planck Collaboration), Astron. Astrophys. 641, A6 (2020); 652, C4(E) (2021).
  73. E. W. Kolb and M. S. Turner, The Early Universe (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1990), Vol. 69.
  74. J. Edsjo and P. Gondolo, Phys. Rev. D 56, 1879 (1997).
  75. T. Binder, T. Bringmann, M. Gustafsson, and A. Hryczuk, Phys. Rev. D 96, 115010 (2017); 101, 099901(E) (2020).
  76. P. Gondolo and G. Gelmini, Nucl. Phys. B360, 145 (1991).
  77. R. Essig, M. Fernandez-Serra, J. Mardon, A. Soto, T. Volansky, and T.-T. Yu, J. High Energy Phys. 05 (2016) 046.
  78. E. Aprile et al. (XENON Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 161004 (2025).
  79. J. A. Evans, S. Gori, and J. Shelton, J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2018) 100.
  80. R. H. Helm, Phys. Rev. 104, 1466 (1956).
  81. G. Duda, A. Kemper, and P. Gondolo, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 04 (2007) 012.
  82. G. Arcadi, T. Hugle, and F. S. Queiroz, Phys. Lett. B 784, 151 (2018).
  83. J. Aalbers et al. (LZ Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 041002 (2023).
  84. E. Aprile et al. (XENON Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 041003 (2023).
  85. G. Arcadi, G. C. Dorsch, J. P. Neto, F. S. Queiroz, and Y. M. Oviedo-Torres, Phys. Lett. B 848, 138382 (2024).
  86. J. P. Lees et al. (BABAR Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 94, 011102 (2016).
  87. I. Adachi et al. (Belle-II Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 231801 (2023).
  88. J. P. Lees et al. (BABAR Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 201801 (2014).
  89. Y. M. Andreev et al. (NA64 Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 106, 032015 (2022).
  90. G. Aad et al. (ATLAS Collaboration), J. High Energy Phys. 07 (2023) 090.
  91. A. M. Sirunyan et al. (CMS Collaboration), Phys. Lett. B 792, 345 (2019).
  92. S. R. Mishra et al. (CCFR Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 66, 3117 (1991).
  93. W. Altmannshofer, S. Gori, M. Pospelov, and I. Yavin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 091801 (2014).
  94. P. Ilten, Y. Soreq, J. Thaler, M. Williams, and W. Xue, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 251803 (2016).
  95. A.-C. Eilers, D. W. Hogg, H.-W. Rix, and M. K. Ness, Astrophys. J. 871, 120 (2019).
  96. J. Alwall, R. Frederix, S. Frixione, V. Hirschi, F. Maltoni, O. Mattelaer, H. S. Shao, T. Stelzer, P. Torrielli, and M. Zaro, J. High Energy Phys. 07 (2014) 079.
  97. R. Frederix, S. Frixione, V. Hirschi, D. Pagani, H. S. Shao, and M. Zaro, J. High Energy Phys. 07 (2018) 185; 11 (2021) 085(E).
  98. C. Arina, M. Di Mauro, N. Fornengo, J. Heisig, A. Jueid, and R. R. de Austri, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 03 (2024) 035.
  99. M. Di Mauro, N. Fornengo, A. Jueid, R. R. de Austri, and F. Bellini, Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 131002 (2025).
  100. P. F. de Salas, K. Malhan, K. Freese, K. Hattori, and M. Valluri, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 10 (2019) 037.
  101. T. A. Porter, I. V. Moskalenko, A. W. Strong, E. Orlando, and L. Bouchet, Astrophys. J. 682, 400 (2008).
  102. M. Cirelli, G. Corcella, A. Hektor, G. Hutsi, M. Kadastik, P. Panci, M. Raidal, F. Sala, and A. Strumia, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 03 (2011) 051; 10 (2012) E01.
  103. M. Cirelli and P. Panci, Nucl. Phys. B821, 399 (2009).
  104. S. Blanchet and J. Lavalle, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 11 (2012) 021.
  105. M. Di Mauro, F. Donato, M. Korsmeier, S. Manconi, and L. Orusa, Phys. Rev. D 108, 063024 (2023).
  106. C. Evoli, D. Gaggero, A. Vittino, G. Di Bernardo, M. Di Mauro, A. Ligorini, P. Ullio, and D. Grasso, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 02 (2017) 015.
  107. T. A. Porter, G. Johannesson, and I. V. Moskalenko, Astrophys. J. 846, 67 (2017).
  108. H. T. Freudenreich, Astrophys. J. 492, 495 (1998).
  109. T. P. Robitaille, E. Churchwell, R. A. Benjamin, B. A. Whitney, K. Wood, B. L. Babler, and M. R. Meade, Astron. Astrophys. 545, A39 (2012).
  110. M. G. Baring, D. C. Ellison, S. P. Reynolds, I. A. Grenier, and P. Goret, Astrophys. J. 513, 311 (1999).
  111. M. Regis, M. Korsmeier, G. Bernardi, G. Pignataro, J. Reynoso-Cordova, and P. Ullio, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 08 (2023) 030.
  112. M. Aguilar, L. Ali Cavasonza, G. Ambrosi, L. Arruda et al. (AMS Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 041102 (2019).
  113. L. Orusa, M. Di Mauro, F. Donato, and M. Korsmeier, Phys. Rev. D 105, 123021 (2022).
  114. M. Di Mauro, S. Manconi, and F. Donato, Phys. Rev. D 100, 123015 (2019).
  115. M. Di Mauro, S. Manconi, and F. Donato, Phys. Rev. D 101, 103035 (2020).
  116. S. Manconi, M. Di Mauro, and F. Donato, Phys. Rev. D 102, 023015 (2020).
  117. L. Orusa, S. Manconi, F. Donato, and M. Di Mauro, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 12 (2021) 014.
  118. L. Orusa, S. Manconi, F. Donato, and M. Di Mauro, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 02 (2025) 029.
  119. S. Manconi, J. Woo, R.-Y. Shang, R. Krivonos, C. Tang, M. Di Mauro, F. Donato, K. Mori, and C. J. Hailey, Astron. Astrophys. 689, A326 (2024).
  120. C. B. Adams et al. (VERITAS, XMM-Newton Collaborations), Astrophys. J. 985, 90 (2025).
  121. L. Bergstrom, T. Bringmann, I. Cholis, D. Hooper, and C. Weniger, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 171101 (2013).
  122. J. Aalbers et al. (DARWIN Collaboration), J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 11 (2016) 017.
  123. feynrules model files, 10.5281/zenodo.17642579.
  124. J. M. Cline, in 58th Rencontres de Moriond on Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories (2024), arXiv:2405.08534.

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. D 112, 115016– Published 4 December, 2025
  • Received 13 August 2025
  • Accepted 18 November 2025
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation