Observational evidences for the existence of 17.4 keV decaying degenerate sterile neutrinos near the Galactic Center

Abstract

We show that the existence of a degenerate halo of sterile neutrinos with rest mass of 17.4 keV near the Galactic Center can account for both the excess 8.7 keV emission observed by the $Suzaku$ mission and the power needed ($10^{40}$ erg s$^{-1}$) to maintain the high temperature of the hot gas (8 keV) near the Galactic Center. The required decay rate and mixing angle of the sterile neutrinos are $\Gamma \ge 5 \times 10^{-20}$ s$^{-1}$ and $\sin^22 \theta \sim 10^{-3}-10^{-4}$ respectively. These values are consistent with a low reheating temperature in the inflation model, and suggest the exciting possibility that the sterile - active neutrino oscillation can be visible in near future experiments.