Exploring Ultralight Scalar Assistance in Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter: Cold Spectrum and Unusual X/Gamma-ray Signatures

Abstract

We present a scalar-driven sterile neutrino production model where the interaction with the ultralight scalar field modifies the oscillation production of sterile neutrinos in the early universe. The model effectively suppresses the production of sterile neutrinos at low temperatures due to the heavy scalar mass, resulting in a colder matter power spectrum that avoids constraints from small-scale structure observations. In this model, the dominant dark matter relic is from sterile neutrinos, with only a small fraction originating from the ultralight scalar. Furthermore, the model predicts a detectable X/gamma-ray flux proportional to the cubic density of local sterile neutrinos for a light scalar mass due to the light scalar coupling to sterile neutrinos. This distinguishes our model from normal decaying dark matter, which has a linear dependence on the density. In addition, the model predicts a potential low-energy monochromatic neutrino signal that can be detectable by future neutrino telescopes.

arXiv comment20 pages, 5 figures, 1 table; v2: matched to journal version

References in corpus (70)

• A Universal Density Profile from Hierarchical Clustering
• The Cosmic Linear Anisotropy Solving System (CLASS) II: Approximation schemes
• Sterile Neutrinos as Dark Matter
• Halo Formation in Warm Dark Matter Models
• Constraining Warm Dark Matter candidates including sterile neutrinos and light gravitinos with WMAP and the Lyman-alpha forest
• WISPy Cold Dark Matter
• Warm Dark Matter as a solution to the small scale crisis: new constraints from high redshift Lyman-alpha forest data
• A New Dark Matter Candidate: Non-thermal Sterile Neutrinos
• Detection of An Unidentified Emission Line in the Stacked X-ray spectrum of Galaxy Clusters
• An unidentified line in X-ray spectra of the Andromeda galaxy and Perseus galaxy cluster
• The role of sterile neutrinos in cosmology and astrophysics
• Sterile Neutrino Hot, Warm, and Cold Dark Matter
• New Constraints on the free-streaming of warm dark matter from intermediate and small scale Lyman-$\alpha$ forest data
• Quark Mass and Flavour Dependence of the QCD Phase Transition
• Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter
• Warm dark matter chills out: constraints on the halo mass function and the free-streaming length of dark matter with 8 quadruple-image strong gravitational lenses
• Lightest sterile neutrino abundance within the nuMSM
• A lower bound on the mass of Dark Matter particles
• QCD Thermodynamics with Three Flavors of Improved Staggered Quarks
• Sterile neutrino dark matter bounds from galaxies of the Local Group
• Sterile neutrinos in cosmology
• Large Scale Structure Tests of Warm Dark Matter
• A fresh look at linear cosmological constraints on a decaying dark matter component
• Constraints on neutrino masses from Lyman-alpha forest power spectrum with BOSS and XQ-100
• Checking the dark matter origin of 3.53 keV line with the Milky Way center
• Dark matter local density determination: recent observations and future prospects
• Production and Evolution of Perturbations of Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter
• New Constraints on Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter from $NuSTAR$ M31 Observations
• Constraints on 3.55 keV line emission from stacked observations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies
• Resonantly-Produced 7 keV Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter Models and the Properties of Milky Way Satellites
• (Almost) Closing the $\nu$MSM Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter Window with NuSTAR
• Tidal Tails Test the Equivalence Principle in the Dark Sector
• Hitomi constraints on the 3.5 keV line in the Perseus galaxy cluster
• Constraining DM properties with SPI
• Dark Matter Constraints from a Unified Analysis of Strong Gravitational Lenses and Milky Way Satellite Galaxies
• Dodelson-Widrow Mechanism In the Presence of Self-Interacting Neutrinos
• Neutrino Oscillations as a Probe of Light Scalar Dark Matter
• Galilean Equivalence for Galactic Dark Matter
• Scalar Non-Standard Interactions in Neutrino Oscillation
• The dark matter interpretation of the 3.5-keV line is inconsistent with blank-sky observations
• Fuzzy Dark Matter and Non-Standard Neutrino Interactions
• Distorted Neutrino Oscillations From Ultralight Scalar Dark Matter
• Sterile neutrinos, lepton asymmetries, primordial elements: how much of each?
• An X-ray Spectroscopic Search for Dark Matter in the Perseus Cluster with Suzaku
• Dodelson-Widrow Production of Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter with Non-Trivial Initial Abundance
• Toward the full test of the nuMSM sterile neutrino dark matter model with Athena
• Constraints on sterile neutrino models from strong gravitational lensing, Milky Way satellites, and Lyman-$\alpha$ forest
• Intimate Relationship Between Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter and $\Delta N_{\mathrm{eff}}$
• Ultra-light scalar saving the 3+1 neutrino scheme from the cosmological bounds
• Thermalizing sterile neutrino dark matter
• Cosmology-friendly time-varying neutrino masses via the sterile neutrino portal
• Light scalar dark matter at neutrino oscillation experiments
• Probing scalar dark matter oscillations with neutrino oscillations
• Hidden Treasures: sterile neutrinos as dark matter with miraculous abundance, structure formation for different production mechanisms, and a solution to the sigma-8 problem
• Sterile Neutrino Shape-shifting Caused by Dark Matter
• Consistency of dark matter interpretations of the 3.5 keV X-ray line
• eXTP perspectives for the $\nu$MSM sterile neutrino dark matter model
• Axion-Assisted Production of Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter
• Constraining Feeble Neutrino Interactions with Ultralight Dark Matter
• Neutrino meets ultralight dark matter: $0\mathbf{\nu \beta \beta }$ decay and cosmology
• Sterile neutrino dark matter catalyzed by a very light dark photon
• Cosmologically Varying Kinetic Mixing
• Entering the Era of Dark Matter Astronomy? Near to Long-Term Forecasts in X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Bands
• Can Neutrino Self-interactions Save Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter?
• Variation of $\alpha$ from a Dark Matter Force
• Technical Comment on "The dark matter interpretation of the 3.5-keV line is inconsistent with blank-sky observations"
• Induced resonance makes light sterile neutrino Dark Matter cool
• Cosmological effects of coupled dark matter
• Scalar induced resonant sterile neutrino production in the early Universe
• Indirect Signals of Dark Matter Can Change Depending on Where You Look

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Strong limits on keV-scale galactic sterile neutrino dark matter with stray light from NuSTAR after 11 years of operation