Can sterile neutrinos be the dark matter?

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dc.creatorSeljak, Uros
dc.creatorMakarov, Alexey
dc.creatorMcDonald, Patrick
dc.creatorTrac, Hy
dc.date2006-02-20
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T10:27:51Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T10:27:51Z
dc.descriptionWe use the Ly-alpha forest power spectrum measured by the SDSS and high-resolution spectroscopy observations in combination with cosmic microwave background and galaxy clustering constraints to place limits on a sterile neutrino as a dark matter candidate in the warm dark matter (WDM) scenario. Such a neutrino would be created in the early universe through mixing with an active neutrino and would suppress structure on scales smaller than its free streaming scale. We ran a series of high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations with varying neutrino mass to describe the effect of a sterile neutrino on the Ly-alpha forest power spectrum. We find that the mass limit is m_s >14 keV at 95% c.l. (10keV at 99.9%), which is nearly an order of magnitude tighter constraint than previously published limits and is above the upper limit allowed by X-ray constraints, excluding this candidate as dark matter in this model. The corresponding limit for a neutrino that decoupled early while in thermal equilibrium is 2.5keV (95% c.l.).
dc.description4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PRL
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0602430
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0602430
dc.identifierPhys.Rev.Lett.97:191303,2006
dc.identifierdoi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.191303
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/177278
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleCan sterile neutrinos be the dark matter?
dc.typetext

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