Z' and Sterile-Neutrino Interactions in Connection to Dark Matter*

I will discuss extensions of the Standard Model (SM) that lead to potential dark-matter candidates and their interactions with visible matter. While the SM successfully describes all fundamental forces except gravity, it fails to account for neutrino masses and dark matter. These problems may be resolved in extensions of the SM which predict the existence of new interactions mediated by extra neutral gauge bosons named Z's and new particles such as sterile neutrinos which only interact via gravity with the visible sector of the SM. Z' bosons are similar to the SM Z boson, but can potentially be much heavier and are actively searched for in high-energy proton-proton collisions at the CERN LHC. I shall examine the interplay between sterile neutrinos and Z's and discuss the parameter space of the theory model which predicts these particles. In addition, I will discuss how sterile neutrinos communicate with the visible sector of the SM and their connection to the recent observation of high-energy (18 TeV) photons from Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) from cosmic explosions by the LHAASO experiment.