Supernova Bounds on keV-mass Sterile Neutrinos

Abstract: Sterile neutrinos of keV masses are one of the most promising candidates for the warm dark matter, which could solve the small-scale problems encountered in the scenario of cold dark matter. We present a detailed study of the production of such sterile neutrinos in a supernova core, and derive stringent bounds on the active-sterile neutrino mixing angles and sterile neutrino masses based on the standard energy-loss argument.