Leiden University Student Repository

Moors, Ole (2020)

Sterile neutrinos: some or all of dark matter?

Bachelor thesis | Natuurkunde (BSc)

After a short introduction on the history of dark matter research, we review the current state of knowledge on both dark matter and sterile neutrinos, motivating sterile neutrinos as a dark matter candidate. We then investigate the dependence of current constraints on the sterile neutrino parameter space on the fraction $\chi_N$ of the dark matter mass density that is due to sterile neutrinos, and derive a lower bound on the fraction assuming the 3.5 keV spectral line detected in galaxies and galaxy clusters is caused by sterile neutrino decay: $\chi_N \gtrsim 0.1$.

Dark matter

Sterile neutrinos

Cosmology

Particle physics

Theoretical

Author

Moors, Ole

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Specialisation

Natuurkunde

Supervisors

Boyarsky, Alexey

ECTS Credits

3

Language

en