Cosmic-ray signatures of annihilating and semi-annihilating dark matter via one-step cascades

Abstract We present a framework in which three classes of dark matter number-changing processes can affect both the relic abundance via thermal freeze-out in the early universe and the generation of indirect cosmic-ray signals today. These processes are: (i) direct annihilations into Standard Model final states; (ii) annihilations into metastable on-shell mediators that subsequently decay into Standard Model particles; (iii) semi-annihilation processes featuring a dark matter particle in the final state, accompanied by a metastable mediator. A central element of our analysis is the systematic inclusion of semi-annihilation alongside the more commonly considered channels. This setup is largely model-independent, as we only assume the presence of one or more of these processes with unsuppressed s-wave contributions. We analyze representative benchmarks for the dominant decay modes of the mediator and show how the resulting injection spectra for γ rays, neutrinos, and cosmic-ray antimatter vary with the relative importance of the three classes of processes. As an application, we evaluate the observable γ-ray fluxes from dwarf spheroidal galaxies in the GeV–TeV window. Finally, we provide explicit model realizations in which multiple processes coexist, and discuss how their interplay shapes indirect detection signatures. Our results provide a consistent connection between early-universe dynamics and present-day observables, revealing distinctive features that arise when multiple dark matter processes contribute simultaneously.