Several groups have identified an extended excess of gamma rays over the modeled foreground and background emissions towards the Galactic center ( GC ) based on observations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope .
This excess emission is compatible in morphology and spectrum with a telltale sign from dark matter ( DM ) annihilation .
Here , we present a critical reassessment of DM interpretations of the GC signal in light of the foreground and background uncertainties that some of us recently outlaid in Calore et al .
2014 .
We find that a much larger number of DM models fits the gamma-ray data than previously noted .
In particular : ( 1 ) In the case of DM annihilation into \bar { b } b , we find that even large DM masses up to m _ { \chi } \simeq 74 GeV are allowed at p -value > 0.05 .
( 2 ) Surprisingly , annihilation into non-relativistic hh gives a good fit to the data .
( 3 ) The inverse Compton emission from \mu ^ { + } \mu ^ { - } with m _ { \chi } \sim 60 – 70 GeV can also account for the excess at higher latitudes , |b| > 2 ^ { \circ } , both in its spectrum and morphology .
We also present novel constraints on a large number of mixed annihilation channels , including cascade annihilation involving hidden sector mediators .
Finally , we show that the current limits from dwarf spheroidal observations are not in tension with a DM interpretation when uncertainties on the DM halo profile are accounted for .