A 190 kilosecond NuSTAR search at high Galactic latitude finds no sterile-neutrino dark matter decay line and improves the leading upper limit by a factor of about two for 10-12 keV masses.
Testing the origin of ~3.55 keV line in individual galaxy clusters observed with XMM-Newton
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abstract
If the unidentified emission line at ~3.55 keV previously found in spectra of nearby galaxies and galaxy clusters is due to radiatively decaying dark matter, one should detect the signal of comparable strength from many cosmic objects of different nature. By studying existing dark matter distributions in galaxy clusters we identified top-19 of them observed by XMM-Newton X-ray cosmic mission, and analyzed the data for the presence of the new line. In 8 of them, we identified > 2 sigma positive line-like residuals with average position 3.52 +/- 0.08 keV in the emitter's frame. Their observed properties are unlikely to be explained by statistical fluctuations or astrophysical emission lines; observed line position in M31 and Galactic Center makes an additional argument against general-type systematics. Being interpreted as decaying dark matter line, the new detections correspond to radiative decay lifetime tau_dm ~ (3.5-6) x 10^27 s consistent with previous detections.
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NuSTAR Tests of Sterile-Neutrino Dark Matter: New Galactic Bulge Observations and Combined Impact
A 190 kilosecond NuSTAR search at high Galactic latitude finds no sterile-neutrino dark matter decay line and improves the leading upper limit by a factor of about two for 10-12 keV masses.