Delayed pulsar kicks from the emission of sterile neutrinos

Understand

The observed velocities of pulsars suggest the possibility that sterile neutrinos with mass of several keV are emitted from a cooling neutron star.

• The same sterile neutrinos could constitute all or part of cosmological dark matter.
• The neutrino-driven kicks can exhibit delays depending on the mass and the mixing angle, which can be compared with the pulsar data.
• We discuss the allowed ranges of sterile neutrino parameters, consistent with the latest cosmological and X-ray bounds, which can explain the pulsar kicks for different delay times.