No Arabic abstract
We show that the existence of new, light gauge interactions coupled to Standard Model (SM) neutrinos give rise to an abundance of sterile neutrinos through the sterile neutrinos mixing with the SM. Specifically, in the mass range of MeV-GeV and coupling of $g sim 10^{-6} - 10^{-2}$, the decay of this new vector boson in the early universe produces a sufficient quantity of sterile neutrinos to account for the observed dark matter abundance. Interestingly, this can be achieved within a natural extension of the SM gauge group, such as a gauged $L_mu-L_tau$ number, without any tree-level coupling between the new vector boson and the sterile neutrino states. Such new leptonic interactions might also be at the origin of the well-known discrepancy associated with the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon.
In this paper, we calculate the relic abundance of the dark matter particles when they can annihilate into sterile neutrinos with the mass $lesssim 100 text{ GeV}$ in a simple model. Unlike the usual standard calculations, the sterile neutrino may fall out of the thermal equilibrium with the thermal bath before the dark matter freezes out. In such a case, if the Yukawa coupling $y_N$ between the Higgs and the sterile neutrino is small, this process gives rise to a larger $Omega_{text{DM}} h^2$ so we need a larger coupling between the dark matter and the sterile neutrino for a correct relic abundance.
This white paper addresses the hypothesis of light sterile neutrinos based on recent anomalies observed in neutrino experiments and the latest astrophysical data.
We present $psi$MSSM, a model based on a $U(1)_{psi}$ extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model. The gauge symmetry $U(1)_{psi}$, also known as $U(1)_N$, is a linear combination of the $U(1)_chi$ and $U(1)_psi$ subgroups of $E_6$. The model predicts the existence of three sterile neutrinos with masses $lesssim 0.1~{rm eV}$, if the $U(1)_{psi}$ breaking scale is of order 10 TeV. Their contribution to the effective number of neutrinos at nucleosynthesis is $Delta N_{ u}simeq 0.29$. The model can provide a variety of possible cold dark matter candidates including the lightest sterile sneutrino. If the $U(1)_{psi}$ breaking scale is increased to $10^3~{rm TeV}$, the sterile neutrinos, which are stable on account of a $Z_2$ symmetry, become viable warm dark matter candidates. The observed value of the standard model Higgs boson mass can be obtained with relatively light stop quarks thanks to the D-term contribution from $U(1)_{psi}$. The model predicts diquark and diphoton resonances which may be found at an updated LHC. The well-known $mu$ problem is resolved and the observed baryon asymmetry of the universe can be generated via leptogenesis. The breaking of $U(1)_{psi}$ produces superconducting strings that may be present in our galaxy. A $U(1)$ R symmetry plays a key role in keeping the proton stable and providing the light sterile neutrinos.
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.
Light boson dark matter such as axion or hidden photon can be resonantly converted into a magnon in a magnetic insulator under the magnetic field, which can be detected experimentally. We provide a quantum mechanical formulation for the magnon event rate and show that the result is consistent with that obtained by a classical calculation. Besides, it is pointed out that the experimental setup of the QUAX proposal for the axion detection also works as a detector of hidden photon dark matter. It has good sensitivity in the mass range around 1 meV, which is beyond astrophysical constraints.