A new mechanism of sterile neutrino dark matter production

Abstract

We consider a scenario where the dark matter candidate is a sterile neutrino with sizable self-interactions, described by a dimension-six operator, and with negligible interactions with the Standard Model. The relic abundance is set by the freeze-out of 4-to-2 annihilations in the dark sector plasma and reproduces the observed dark matter abundance when the sterile neutrino mass is in the range $\sim 500\,{\rm keV} - 20\,\,{\rm GeV}$. The feeble interactions with the Standard Model may lead to observable signals from dark matter decay. Furthermore, the self-interactions can affect the formation of small scale structures. We also implement this mechanism in a concrete model where the sterile neutrino self-interaction is due to the exchange of a singlet scalar, and we discuss the relevance of the scalar portal interactions for constructing a complete thermal history of the dark sector.