Constraints on sterile neutrino dark matter from XMM--Newton observation of M33

TL;DR

This study uses XMM-Newton observations of M33 to set new constraints on sterile neutrino dark matter by analyzing X-ray emission and excluding certain line intensities in the 0.5-5 keV range.

Contribution

It provides novel constraints on sterile neutrino dark matter parameters based on X-ray observations of M33, improving previous limits in the 1-10 keV mass range.

Findings

Excluded narrow line emissions more intense than 10^{-6}-10^{-5} erg/s in 0.5-5 keV range.

Placed new constraints on sterile neutrino mass and mixing angle.

Supported sterile neutrinos as a viable dark matter candidate within certain parameters.

Abstract

Using archival XMM-Newton observations of the diffuse and unresolved components emission in the inner disc of M33 we exclude the possible contribution from narrow line emission in the energy range 0.5-5 keV more intense than 10^{-6}-10^{-5} erg/s. Under the hypothesis that sterile neutrinos constitute the majority of the dark matter in M33, we use this result in order to put constraints on their parameter space in the 1-10 keV mass range.