Related papers: Sterile dark matter and reionization
Two astrophysical puzzles, the origin of pulsar velocities and that of dark matter, may have a simultaneous explanation if there exists a sterile neutrino with a mass in the 1-20 keV range and a small mixing (of order 10^{-4}) with the…
Sterile neutrinos can be produced in the early universe via interactions with their active counterparts. For small active-sterile mixing angles, thermal equilibrium with the standard model plasma is not reached and sterile neutrinos are…
Taken at face value, current experimental data indicate the existence of a new particle, the sterile neutrino, which must be a singlet under the Standard Model gauge group. Although they are not detectable through traditional means, such…
Sterile neutrinos offer a minimal and testable explanation for dark matter (DM), with their radiative decay actively searched for in X-ray observations. We show that cold sterile neutrino DM can be efficiently produced during reheating from…
Sterile neutrino dark matter is expected to suppress structure formation at small astrophysical scales. The details of the suppression depend on the sterile neutrino production mechanism in the early universe. In this proceeding, we focus…
We demonstrate for the first time that three sterile neutrinos alone can simultaneously explain neutrino oscillations, the observed dark matter and the baryon asymmetry of the Universe without new physics above the Fermi scale. The key new…
In usual particle models, sterile neutrinos can account for the dark matter of the Universe only if they have masses in the keV range and are warm dark matter. Stringent cosmological and astrophysical bounds, in particular imposed by X-ray…
We analyze a scenario in which the lightest heavy neutrino $N_1$ is a dark matter candidate and the second- heaviest neutrino $N_2$ decays producing a lepton number. If $N_1$ were in thermal equilibrium, its energy density today would be…
We generalize gravitational particle production in a radiation-dominated $CPT$-symmetric universe to non-standard, but also $CPT$-symmetric early universe cosmologies. We calculate the mass of a right-handed "sterile" neutrino needed for it…
By numerically solving the appropriate Boltzmann equations, we study the production of sterile neutrinos in models with low reheating temperatures. We take into account the production in oscillations as well as in direct decays and compute…
Sterile neutrinos are possible dark matter candidates. We examine here possible detection mechanisms, assuming that the neutrino has a mass of about 50 keV and couples to the ordinary neutrino. Even though this neutrino is quite heavy, it…
In these brief lecture notes, we introduce sterile neutrinos as dark matter candidates. We discuss in particular their production via oscillations, their radiative decay, as well as possible observational signatures and constraints.
High energy gamma-rays and neutrinos can be produced both by the annihilation and by the possible slow decay of dark matter particles. We discuss the fluxes and spectra of such secondaries produced by dark matter particles in the universe…
Sterile neutrinos are one of the most promising Warm Dark Matter candidates. By considering their radiative- and pion-decay channels, we derive the allowed contribution of sterile neutrinos to the X-ray, optical and near-infrared cosmic…
We present a mechanism for producing a cosmologically-significant relic density of one or more sterile neutrinos. This scheme invokes two steps: First, a population of "heavy" sterile neutrinos is created by scattering-induced decoherence…
The first phase of stellar evolution in the history of the universe may be Dark Stars, powered by dark matter heating rather than by fusion. Weakly interacting massive particles, which are their own antiparticles, can annihilate and provide…
If the dark matter of the Universe is made of sterile neutrinos with the mass in keV region they can be searched for with the help of X-ray satellites. We discuss the prospects of laboratory experiments that can be competitive and…
We investigate the early Universe production of sterile neutrino Dark Matter by the decays of singlet scalars. All previous studies applied simplifying assumptions and/or studied the process only on the level of number densities, which…
We use the Ly-alpha forest power spectrum measured by the SDSS and high-resolution spectroscopy observations in combination with cosmic microwave background and galaxy clustering constraints to place limits on a sterile neutrino as a dark…
The annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles can provide an important heat source for the first (Pop. III) stars, potentially leading to a new phase of stellar evolution known as a "Dark Star". When dark matter (DM) capture via…