A Sterile-Neutrino X-ray Target from the Finite-QEC Dark Sector: m_nuR = 17.68 keV, E_gamma = 8.84 keV

Abstract

A staged, pre-registered X-ray target for the framework's sterile-neutrino dark-sector state, updated with a flux sharpness audit (6 July 2026) that grades its own claims. The hard line-position claim: the passive ν_R state in the record code has mass m_νR = α₀²Λ_QCD = 17.68 keV, so its radiative decay ν_R → ν_L γ gives a photon line at E_γ = 8.84 keV — distinct from the much-discussed 3.5 keV line, which would instead need a ~7 keV sterile mass. The current dark-sector ledger adds a conditional abundance, n_νR/n_γ = α₀/208, giving Ω_νR h² = 0.02418 — one fifth of the paired zero-mode/sterile dark budget Ω_dark h² = 0.12089 — making line position and relic density sharp conditional targets. The flux tier is now explicitly downgraded: the finite register fixes the unique neutral ν_R → ν_L repair edge and its generation-singlet coefficient to one, leaving a single Schur-sector scalar κ = v_R4·K_B; the registered one-denominator branch sets κ = 1, giving sin²(2θ) = 2.1×10⁻¹⁴ and Γ ≈ 4.9×10⁻³³ s⁻¹ — a deliberately faint line below near-term XRISM-class sensitivity and probably below Athena-class reach — but the new sharpness audit shows current canon does not derive κ = 1: any positive κ can be realised by a different local Schur spectral moment while preserving the finite-edge and abundance facts, and the flux scales as κ². The robust near-term content is therefore the line position, the relic-density target, and the prediction of no bright line at this energy in the κ = 1 branch: a much brighter 8.84 keV dark line would refute that branch, while a sufficiently deep non-detection bounds κ without by itself refuting the mass target. The limiting input on the line energy remains the Λ_QCD definition/scheme, so the honest target stays a few-percent window around 8.84 keV.

Keywords

How to cite

Elliman, D. (2026). A Sterile-Neutrino X-ray Target from the Finite-QEC Dark Sector: m_nuR = 17.68 keV, E_gamma = 8.84 keV. Neuro-Symbolic Ltd technical report. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21217857

@techreport{elliman2026sterilexrayprediction,
  author      = {Elliman, David},
  title       = {A Sterile-Neutrino X-ray Target from the Finite-QEC Dark Sector: m_nuR = 17.68 keV, E_gamma = 8.84 keV},
  institution = {Neuro-Symbolic Ltd},
  year        = {2026},
  doi         = {10.5281/zenodo.21217857},
  url         = {https://neusym.ai/papers/sterile_xray_prediction/}
}