What are sterile neutrinos good for?

Abstract

Taken at face value, current experimental data indicate the existence of a new particle, the sterile neutrino, which must be a singlet under the Standard Model gauge group. Although they are not detectable through traditional means, such particles have interesting observable consequences for particle astrophysics and cosmology. Here we examine these implications and discuss, in particular, sterile neutrino dark matter and the relationship between matter-enhanced active-sterile neutrino transformation and the synthesis of heavy elements in supernovae.