Introducing to particles physics new fermions that are singlet under the gauge group of the standard model allows one to use the seesaw type-I mechanism to obtain the small neutrino masses and to explain the phenomenon of neutrino oscillations. The mass scale of these fermions (sterile neutrinos) is a free parameter with values ranging widely from subelectronvolt to 10¹⁵ GeV. The mass scale determines the direct search strategy for these particles, and depending on it, sterile neutrinos can influence the evolution of the Universe and can be responsible for the baryonic asymmetry of the Universe and for the phenomenon of dark matter.

PACS: 12.60.−i, 14.60.Pq, 95.30.Cq (all) DOI: 10.3367/UFNe.0184.201405i.0545 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2014/5/i/ 000340732000009 2-s2.0-84905974119 2014PhyU...57..503G Citation: Gorbunov D S "Sterile neutrinos and their roles in particles physics and cosmology" Phys. Usp. 57 503–511 (2014) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Accepted: 2nd, September 2013 Оригинал: Горбунов Д С «Стерильные нейтрино и их роль в физике частиц и космологии» УФН 184 545–554 (2014); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0184.201405i.0545 B. Pontecorvo is author of Physics-Uspekhi