Sterile neutrinos as dark matter

Scott Dodelson; Lawrence M. Widrow

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.72.17

Sterile neutrinos as dark matter

Scott Dodelson and Lawrence M. Widrow

Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 17 – Published 3 January 1994

Abstract

The simplest model that can accommodate a viable nonbaryonic dark matter candidate is the standard electroweak theory with the addition of right-handed (sterile) neutrinos. We consider a single generation of neutrinos with a Dirac mass μ and a Majorana mass M for the right-handed component. If M≫μ (standard hot dark matter corresponds to M=0), then sterile neutrinos are produced via oscillations in the early Universe with energy density independent of M. However, M is crucial in determining the large scale structure of the Universe; for M∼100 eV, sterile neutrinos make an excellent warm dark matter candidate.

Received 1 April 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.72.17

Authors & Affiliations

Scott Dodelson and Lawrence M. Widrow

NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Center, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, Illinois 60510
Department of Physics, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada K7L 3N6
Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada M5T 1A7