Sterile neutrino fits to dark matter mass profiles in the Milky Way and in galaxy clusters

Abstract

In several recent papers it was claimed that SN 1987A data supports the existence of 4.0 eV and 21.4 eV active neutrino mass eigenstates, and it was shown that such large masses could be made consistent with existing constraints including neutrino oscillation data and upper limits on the neutrino flavor state masses, provided that there also exist a pair of sterile neutrino mass states whose masses are nearly degenerate with the active ones, plus a third active-sterile doublet that is tachyonic ($m^2 <0$). Here, independent evidence is presented for the existence of sterile neutrinos with the previously claimed masses based on fits to the dark matter distributions in the Milky Way galaxy and four clusters of galaxies. The fits are in excellent agreement with observations. In addition, sterile neutrinos having the suggested masses address the "cusp" problem and the missing satellites problem, as well as that of the "top down" scenario of structure formation -- previously a chief drawback of HDM particles. Nevertheless, the highly controversial nature of the claim, and the need for two free parameters in the dark matter fits, additional confirming evidence will be required before it can be considered proven.