Bounds on decaying sterile neutrinos via a magnetic dipole moment from the cosmic optical background intensity
Phys. Rev. D 112, 043027 – Published 21 August, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/7n1v-qzvw
Abstract
A recent observation by the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) mounted on NASA’s New Horizons yielded the most accurate measurement of the cosmic optical background (COB). The reported COB intensity is at a pivot wavelength observed in the range . After subtracting the measured intensity from the deep Hubble Space Telescope count, diffused galactic light, and scattered light from bright star foregrounds, an anomalous intensity of has been found. We consider radiatively decaying sterile neutrinos of keV mass scale as dark matter candidates that could contribute to this anomalous reported intensity. Using this, we derive upper bounds on the sterile-to-sterile transition magnetic moment. We find that sterile neutrinos with mass of scale take values of the transition magnetic moment in the range to explain the anomalous intensity of .