The Cosmological Energy Density of Neutrinos from Oscillation Measurements

The emerging structure of the neutrino mass matrix, when combined with the primordial element abundances, places the most stringent constraint on the flavor asymmetries in the cosmological neutrino background and therefore its energy density. I review the mechanism of synchronized neutrino oscillations in the an early universe with degenerate (asymmetric) neutrino and antineutrino densities and the implications of refined measurements of neutrino parameters.Comment: 4 pages, Proceedings of NuFact 03, 5th International Workshop on Neutrino Factories & Superbeams, 5-11 June 2003, Columbia University, New Yor

Resonantly-Produced 7 keV Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter Models and the Properties of Milky Way Satellites

Sterile neutrinos produced through a resonant Shi-Fuller mechanism are arguably the simplest model for a dark matter interpretation origin of the recent unidentified X-ray line seen toward a number of objects harboring dark matter. Here, I calculate the exact parameters required in this mechanism to produce the signal. The suppression of small scale structure predicted by these models is consistent with Local Group and high-$z$ galaxy count constraints. Very significantly, the parameters necessary in these models to produce the full dark matter density fulfill previously determined requirements to successfully match the Milky Way Galaxy's total satellite abundance, the satellites' radial distribution and their mass density profile, or "too big to fail problem." I also discuss how further precision determinations of the detailed properties of the candidate sterile neutrino dark matter can probe the nature of the quark-hadron transition, which takes place during the dark matter production.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. v3: discussion added, matches version accepted to Phys. Rev. Let

Sterile neutrinos in cosmology

Sterile neutrinos are natural extensions to the standard model of particle physics in neutrino mass generation mechanisms. If they are relatively light, less than approximately 10 keV, they can alter cosmology significantly, from the early Universe to the matter and radiation energy density today. Here, we review the cosmological role such light sterile neutrinos can play from the early Universe, including production of keV-scale sterile neutrinos as dark matter candidates, and dynamics of light eV-scale sterile neutrinos during the weakly-coupled active neutrino era. We review proposed signatures of light sterile neutrinos in cosmic microwave background and large scale structure data. We also discuss keV-scale sterile neutrino dark matter decay signatures in X-ray observations, including recent candidate $\sim$3.5 keV X-ray line detections consistent with the decay of a $\sim$7 keV sterile neutrino dark matter particle.Comment: Accepted version of an invited review for Physics Reports. 33 pages, 7 figures, approximately 16,000 words; v3: expanded discussion of low reheating temperature universe models with a new figure, large scale structure effects, scalar decay model

Comment on "Joint Anisotropy and Source Count Constraints on the Contribution of Blazars to the Diffuse Gamma-Ray Background"

We show the conclusions claimed in the manuscript arXiv:1202.5309v1 by Cuoco, Komatsu and Siegal-Gaskins (CKS) are not generally valid. The results in CKS are based on a number of simplifying assumptions regarding the source population below the detection threshold and the threshold flux itself, and do not apply to many physical models of the blazar population. Physical blazar population models that match the measured source counts above the observational threshold can account for 60% of the diffuse gamma-ray background intensity between 1-10 GeV, while the assumptions in CKS limit the intensity to <30%. The shortcomings of the model considered in CKS arise from an over-simplified blazar source model. A number of the simplifying assumptions are unjustified, including: first, the adoption of an assumed power-law source-count distribution, dN/dS, to arbitrary low source fluxes, which is not exhibited in physical models of the blazar population; and, second, the lack of blazar spectral information in calculating the anisotropy of unresolved gamma-ray blazar emission. We also show that the calculation of the unresolved blazars' anisotropy is very sensitive to the spectral distribution of the unresolved blazars through the adopted source resolution threshold value, and must be taken into account in an accurate anisotropy calculation.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, comment on arXiv:1202.5309v

Bulk QCD Thermodynamics and Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter

We point out that the relic densities of singlet (sterile) neutrinos of interest in viable warm and cold dark matter scenarios, depend on the characteristics of the QCD transition in the early universe. In the most promising of these dark matter scenarios the production of the singlets occurs at or near the QCD transition. Since production of the singlets, their dilution, and the disappearance of weak scatterers occur simultaneously, we calculate these processes contemporaneously to obtain accurate predictions of relic sterile neutrino mass density. Therefore, a determination of the mass and superweak mixing of the singlet neutrino through, for example, its radiative decay, along with a determination of its contribution to the critical density, can provide insight into the finite-temperature QCD transition.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, to match version in Phys. Rev.

Bright gamma-ray Galactic Center excess and dark dwarfs: Strong tension for dark matter annihilation despite Milky Way halo profile

We incorporate Milky Way dark matter halo profile uncertainties, as well as an accounting of diffuse gamma-ray emission uncertainties in dark matter annihilation models for the Galactic Center Extended gamma-ray excess (GCE) detected by the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope. The range of particle annihilation rate and masses expand when including these unknowns. However, two of the most precise empirical determinations of the Milky Way halo's local density and density profile leave the signal region to be in considerable tension with dark matter annihilation searches from combined dwarf galaxy analyses for single-channel dark matter annihilation models. The GCE and dwarf tension can be alleviated if: one, the halo is very highly concentrated or strongly contracted; two, the dark matter annihilation signal differentiates between dwarfs and the GC; or, three, local stellar density measures are found to be significantly lower, like that from recent stellar counts, increasing the local dark matter density.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures; v3 & v4: match version to appear in PRD; analysis code available at https://github.com/rekeeley/GCE_error