Maximal parameter space of sterile neutrino dark matter with lepton asymmetries (2507.20659v1)

Abstract: Large lepton flavor asymmetries with zero total lepton asymmetry could be generated in the Early Universe. They are loosely constrained by current observations, being washed out at MeV temperatures by neutrino oscillations. We show that such lepton flavor asymmetries open up a new parameter space for sterile neutrino dark matter, consistent with all observational bounds. To this end, we construct the semi-classical Boltzmann equation for sterile neutrinos applicable in the case of arbitrarily large lepton asymmetries, and confirm its validity by quantum kinetic equations. This way, we derive the maximal parameter space for sterile neutrino dark matter with lepton asymmetries. The allowed range of sterile neutrinos' squared couplings extends by up to two orders of magnitude across a 5-70 keV mass range, and may be testable by X-ray, structure formation, and upcoming CMB observations.