Work

Relic keV Sterile Neutrinos and Reionization

Year: 2006

Type: article

Abstract: A sterile neutrino with a mass of several keV can account for cosmological dark matter, as well as explain the observed velocities of pulsars. We show that x rays produced by the decays of these relic sterile neutrinos can boost the production of molecular hydrogen, which can speed up the cooling of gas and the early star formation, which can, in turn, lead to a reionization of the Universe at a high enough redshift to be consistent with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe results.

Source: Physical Review Letters

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.96.091301

Authors: Peter L. Biermann, Alexander Kusenko

Institutions: University of Bonn, University of Alabama, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles

Language: English

Topic: Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Aspen Center for Physics, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron

OpenAlex ID: W2067507459

FWCI: 15.41

Cites: 43

Cited by: 165

Related to: 10