Accounting for the Unresolved X-ray Background with Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter

TL;DR

This paper investigates whether keV sterile neutrinos, as dark matter candidates, can explain the unresolved X-ray background by analyzing deep field observations to constrain their properties.

Contribution

It introduces a method to derive constraints on sterile neutrino parameters using integrated flux analysis of deep field X-ray observations.

Findings

Constraints on sterile neutrino mass-mixing parameters derived

Sterile neutrinos could account for part of the unresolved X-ray background

Method applied to Chandra deep field data

Abstract

We consider a scenario where keV sterile neutrinos constitute all of the currently inferred dark matter abundance, whose radiative decays could potentially account for the flux contributions to the X-ray background attributed to unresolved sources. Here we apply integrated flux methods to results from the observations of the North and South Chandra deep fields in order to deduce constraints on the sterile neutrino mass-mixing parameters.