Searches and constraints of sterile neutrino dark matter

Prof. Shunsaku Horiuchi (Virginia Tech)
Monday December 22, 11:00 am

Abstract: 
The cold dark matter cosmological paradigm has been extremely successful in explaining cosmic structure on large scales. Yet, it has constantly been challenged by observations that probe small-scale structures. I will first introduce these challenges, and discuss how warm dark matter provides an alternative that help resolve such small-scale issues whilst maintaing the successes on large scales. From the particle perspective, I will focus on sterile neutrinos, one of th leading warm dark matter candidates. Finally, anomalous 3.5 keV lines have recently been reported, which may be interpreted as sterile neutrino dark matter decay signals. I will discuss implications of this signal in the context of sterile neutrino cosmology. 

http://www.phys.vt.edu/~horiuchi/HOME.html