Sterile neutrinos: the dark side of the light fermions

by Alexander Kusenko (UCLA)

Monday 24 Aug 2015, 15:00 → 16:00 Europe/Stockholm

FA31

The last two decades have been marked by significant progress in neutrino physics, and the future may hold even more dramatic discoveries, the hints for which begin to appear in astrophysics and cosmology. The observed neutrino masses imply the existence of some yet undiscovered "right-handed" states, which can be very massive and unreachable, but which can also be light enough to make up dark matter and to affect a number of astrophysical phenomena, from supernova asymmetries and the pulsar kicks to some peculiarities in the reionization and formation of the first stars. I will review the theory and astrophysics of sterile neutrinos, as well as the ongoing search using X-ray telescopes.