Strong limits on keV-scale galactic sterile neutrino dark matter with stray light from NuSTAR after 11 years of operation

Abstract

Using tremendous photon statistics gained with the stray light aperture of the NuSTAR telescope over 11 years of operation, we set strong limits on the emission of close to monochromatic photons from the radiative decays of putative dark matter sterile neutrinos in the Milky Way. In the energy range of 3-20 keV covered by the NuSTAR, the obtained limits reach the bottom edge of theoretical predictions of realistic models where sterile neutrinos are produced in the early Universe. Only a small region is left to explore, if the sterile neutrinos form the entire dark matter component.