Dark Matter: The Case of Sterile Neutrino

Abstract. The nature of dark matter is still unknown and one of the most fundamental scientific mysteries. Although successfully describing large scales, the standard cold dark matter model (CDM) exhibits possible shortcomings on galactic and sub-galactic scales. It is exactly at these highly non-linear scales where strong astrophysical constraints can be set on the nature of the dark matter particle. While observations of the Lyman-α forest probe the matter power spectrum in the mildly non-linear regime, satellite galaxies of the Milky Way provide an excellent laboratory as a test of the underlying cosmology on much smaller scales. Here we present results from a set of high resolution simulations of a Milky Way sized dark matter halo in eight distinct cosmologies: CDM, warm dark matter (WDM) with a particle mass of 2 keV and six different cold plus warm dark matter (C+WDM) models, varying the fraction, f wdm , and the mass, m wdm , of the warm component. We used three different observational tests based on Milky Way satellite observations: the total satellite abundance, their radial distribution and their mass profile. We show that the requirement of simultaneously satisfying all three constraints sets very strong limits on the nature of dark matter. This shows the power of a multi-dimensional small scale approach in ruling out models which would be still allowed by large scale observations.

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“…Typical candidates are gravitino [20][21][22] and sterile neutrino like particles [e.g. [23][24][25].…”

Section: Jcap03(2013)014mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hints on the nature of dark matter from the properties of Milky Way satellites

Anderhalden¹,

Schneider²,

Macciò³

et al. 2013

J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys.

101

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“…if it once was in thermal equilibrium or not. The two most prominent candidates for these scenarios are the thermally produced gravitino [30] and the non-thermally produced sterile neutrino [31][32][33].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The galactic halo in mixed dark matter cosmologies

Anderhalden

Diemand

Bertone

et al. 2012

J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys.

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Abstract.A possible solution to the small scale problems of the cold dark matter (CDM) scenario is that the dark matter consists of two components, a cold and a warm one. We perform a set of high resolution simulations of the Milky Way halo varying the mass of the WDM particle (m WDM ) and the cosmic dark matter mass fraction in the WDM component (f W ). The scaling ansatz introduced in combined analysis of LHC and astroparticle searches postulates that the relative contribution of each dark matter component is the same locally as on average in the Universe (e.g. f W, =f W ). Here we find however, that the normalised local WDM fraction (f W, /f W ) depends strongly on m WDM for m WDM < 1 keV. Using the scaling ansatz can therefore introduce significant errors into the interpretation of dark matter searches. To correct this issue a simple formula that fits the local dark matter densities of each component is provided.

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Dark Matter in Modern Cosmology

Colafrancesco¹

2010

AIP Conference Proceedings

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The presence of Dark Matter (DM) is required in the universe regulated by the standard general relativistic theory of gravitation. The nature of DM is however still elusive to any experimental search. We discuss here the process of accumulation of evidence for the presence of DM in the universe, the astrophysical probes for the leading DM scenarios that can be obtained through a multi-frequency analysis of cosmic structures on large scales, and the strategies related to the multi-messenger and multi-experiment astrophysical search for the nature of the DM.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures. Updated version of the review included in ASTROPHYSICS AND COSMOLOGY AFTER GAMOW: Proceedings of the 4th Gamow International Conference on Astrophysics and Cosmology After Gamow and the 9th Gamow Summer School "Astronomy and Beyond: Astrophysics, Cosmology, Radio Astronomy, High Energy Physics and Astrobiology". AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1206, p.

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Dark Matter: The Case of Sterile Neutrino

Cited by 3 publications

References 43 publications

Hints on the nature of dark matter from the properties of Milky Way satellites

Hints on the nature of dark matter from the properties of Milky Way satellites

The galactic halo in mixed dark matter cosmologies

Dark Matter in Modern Cosmology

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