Speaker
Description
Sterile neutrinos, which could provide an elegant solution to the puzzle of the observed active neutrino masses and mixing, are among the most well-motivated dark matter candidates, with astrophysical X-ray observations offering the best opportunity for discovery. The NuSTAR X-ray observatory’s broad energy range and wide-angle aperture for unfocused photons has allowed for leading sensitivity to sterile neutrinos over the mass range ~10-50 keV. In this talk, I will detail how NuSTAR observations of the Galactic center, Galactic bulge, M31, and extragalactic fields have improved upon previous limits at some masses by over an order of magnitude. Future sensitivity using NuSTAR, in particular for photon energies <5 keV (masses <10 keV), is now limited by understanding of instrumental background effects. I will conclude with a roadmap toward optimizing NuSTAR searches across the mass range ~6-50 keV.
