Indirect Detection of Low-mass Dark Matter Through the \(\pi^0\) and \(\eta\) Windows

We consider the search for gamma-rays produced by the annihilation or decay of low-mass dark matter which couples to quarks. In this scenario, most of the photons are produced from the decays of \(\pi^0\) or \(\eta\) mesons. These decays produce distinctly different photon signatures due to the difference in meson mass. We assess the ability of the future MeV-range observatories to constrain the hadronic final states produced by dark matter annihilation or decay from the shape of the resulting photon spectrum. We then comment on how this information can be used to determine properties of the dark matter coupling to the quark current, based on the approximate symmetries of low-energy QCD.