Axion-assisted production of sterile neutrino dark matter
Abstract
Sterile neutrinos can be generated in the early universe through oscillations with active neutrinos and represent a popular and well-studied candidate for our Universe’s dark matter. Stringent constraints from X-ray and gamma-ray line searches, however, have excluded the simplest of such models. Here in this paper, we propose a novel alternative to the standard scenario in which the mixing angle between the sterile and active neutrinos is a dynamical quantity, induced through interactions with a light axionlike field. As the energy density of the axionlike particles is diluted by Hubble expansion, the degree of mixing is reduced at late times, suppressing the decay rate and easily alleviating any tension with X-ray or gamma-ray constraints. Lastly, we present a simple model which illustrates the phenomenology of this scenario, and also describe a framework in which the QCD axion is responsible for the production of sterile neutrinos in the early universe.
- Authors:
-
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States). Enrico Fermi Inst.
- Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States). Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics; Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States). Dept. of Astronomy and Astrophysics; Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States). Kavli Inst. for Cosmological Physics (KICP)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1360757
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1351688
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515; AC02-07CH11359
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review D
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 95; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 2470-0010
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; 72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
Citation Formats
Berlin, Asher, and Hooper, Dan. Axion-assisted production of sterile neutrino dark matter. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.95.075017.
Berlin, Asher, & Hooper, Dan. Axion-assisted production of sterile neutrino dark matter. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.95.075017
Berlin, Asher, and Hooper, Dan. Wed .
"Axion-assisted production of sterile neutrino dark matter". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.95.075017. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1360757.
@article{osti_1360757,
title = {Axion-assisted production of sterile neutrino dark matter},
author = {Berlin, Asher and Hooper, Dan},
abstractNote = {Sterile neutrinos can be generated in the early universe through oscillations with active neutrinos and represent a popular and well-studied candidate for our Universe’s dark matter. Stringent constraints from X-ray and gamma-ray line searches, however, have excluded the simplest of such models. Here in this paper, we propose a novel alternative to the standard scenario in which the mixing angle between the sterile and active neutrinos is a dynamical quantity, induced through interactions with a light axionlike field. As the energy density of the axionlike particles is diluted by Hubble expansion, the degree of mixing is reduced at late times, suppressing the decay rate and easily alleviating any tension with X-ray or gamma-ray constraints. Lastly, we present a simple model which illustrates the phenomenology of this scenario, and also describe a framework in which the QCD axion is responsible for the production of sterile neutrinos in the early universe.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevD.95.075017},
journal = {Physical Review D},
number = 7,
volume = 95,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Apr 12 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Wed Apr 12 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
Web of Science
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Works referencing / citing this record:
Thermalizing sterile neutrino dark matter
text, January 2017
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- arXiv