Can Neutrino Self-interactions Save Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter?

Abstract

Sterile neutrinos only interact with the Standard Model through the neutrino sector, and thus represent a simple dark matter (DM) candidate with many potential astrophysical and cosmological signatures. Recently, sterile neutrinos produced through self-interactions of active neutrinos have received attention as a particle candidate that can yield the entire observed DM relic abundance without violating the most stringent constraints from X-ray observations. We examine consistency of this production mechanism with the abundance of small-scale structure in the universe, as captured by the population of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way, and derive a lower bound on the sterile-neutrino particle mass of $37$ keV. Combining these results with previous limits from particle physics and astrophysics excludes $100\%$ sterile neutrino DM produced by strong neutrino self-coupling, mediated by a heavy ($\gtrsim 1\mathrm{GeV}$) scalar particle; however, data permits sterile-neutrino DM production via a light mediator.

9 pages, 5 figures, comments are welcome

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• Signatures of Bulk Neutrinos in the Early Universe
• Return of the Lepton Number: Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter Production and the Revival of the Shi-Fuller Mechanism
• Probing self-interacting ultrahigh-energy neutrinos with the cosmic 21-cm signal
• Exploring Ultralight Scalar Assistance in Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter: Cold Spectrum and Unusual X/Gamma-ray Signatures
• Neutrino-Portal Dark Matter Detection Prospects at a Future Muon Collider
• Searching for Particle Dark Matter with eROSITA Early Data
• Cosmic Structure Strikes Back: The Elimination of Vector-Mediated Nonstandard Interaction Models as a Mechanism for Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter Production