English

ACT DR6 Insights on the Inflationary Attractor models and Reheating

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics 2025-05-06 v1 High Energy Physics - Phenomenology High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

We investigate the observational constraints on α\alpha-attractor inflationary models and their post-inflationary reheating dynamics in light of the latest CMB data from ACT DR6 combined with Planck18, BICEP/KeckKeck 2018, and DESI (collectively denoted P-ACT-LB-BK18). Focusing on both E and T type attractor potentials, we analyze how inflationary observables namely the scalar spectral index nsn_s and the tensor-to-scalar ratio rr are indirectly influenced by reheating parameters such as the reheating temperature TRHT_{\text{RH}}, the inflaton equation-of-state wϕw_\phi, and the inflaton's couplings to Starndard Model particles. We incorporate indirect constraints from the overproduction of primordial gravitational waves (PGWs), particularly via ΔNeff\Delta N_{\rm eff} bounds on BBN, which become significant for stiff post-inflationary dynamics. Our results show that E-models permit a wide range of reheating scenarios, including matter-like reheating (wϕ=0w_\phi = 0), while T-models are viable only for wϕ0.44w_\phi \gtrsim 0.44. We derive bounds on inflaton-Standard Model couplings for both decay and scattering channels and identify parameter regimes compatible with recent ACT data for successful reheating. These findings establish a robust connection between inflationary theory, thermal history, and particle phenomenology, and provide predictive targets for future CMB missions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2505.01517,
  title  = {ACT DR6 Insights on the Inflationary Attractor models and Reheating},
  author = {Md Riajul Haque and Sourav Pal and Debarun Paul},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.01517},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

13 pages, 7 figures and 4 tables. Comments are welcome