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Deep Search for Decaying Dark Matter with XMM-Newton Blank-Sky Observations

Safdi, Benjamin R.; Foster, Joshua W.; Kongsore, Marius +4 more

Sterile neutrinos with masses in the keV range are well-motivated extensions to the Standard Model that could explain the observed neutrino masses while also making up the dark matter (DM) of the universe. If sterile neutrinos are DM then they may slowly decay into active neutrinos and photons, giving rise to the possibility of their detection thr…

Axion Emission Can Explain a New Hard X-Ray Excess from Nearby Isolated Neutron Stars

Buschmann, Malte; Safdi, Benjamin R.; Dessert, Christopher +1 more

Axions may be produced thermally inside the cores of neutron stars (NSs), escape the stars due to their feeble interactions with matter, and subsequently convert into x rays in the magnetic fields surrounding the stars. We show that a recently discovered excess of hard x-ray emission in the 2-8 keV energy range from the nearby magnificent seven is…