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Abstract |
The seesaw mechanism with three heavy Majorana right-handed neutrinos provides an elegant explanation for neutrino masses and, combined with leptogenesis, can generate the baryon asymmetry of the universe (BAU). Naturally embedded in a grand unified theory, this framework stands as one of the best-motivated extensions beyond the Standard Model, but it is very difficult to test it. Moreover, it does not account for dark matter (DM). In this paper, we propose a minimal extension that introduces a dark sector with a singlet Majorana fermion (as the DM candidate) and a complex scalar singlet. The heavy righthanded neutrinos serve another role beyond generating neutrino masses and the BAU: producing the cold DM density through their decays. Interestingly, the model also predicts a subdominant DM component from late scalar decays, which in some cases may be hot or warm at the onset of structure formation, as well as an equal number of nonthermal neutrinos. These components leave distinct signatures in various cosmological observables. Furthermore, electromagnetic energy injection from scalar decays alter predictions from big bang nucleosynthesis and induce spectral distortions in the cosmic microwave background black-body spectrum. In this context, upcoming experiments, such as the Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE), could probe the mechanism of neutrino mass generation. |
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