Related papers: WIMPflation
We consider models for inflation with a stable inflaton. Reheating is achieved through scattering processes such as $\phi \phi \to h h$, where $h$ is the Standard Model Higgs boson. We consider the reheating process in detail and show that…
We present a unified model where the same scalar field can drive inflation and account for the present dark matter abundance. This scenario is based on the incomplete decay of the inflaton field into right-handed neutrino pairs, which is…
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are among the best-motivated dark matter candidates. In the standard scenario where the freeze-out occurs well after the end of inflationary reheating, they are in tension with the severe…
Within the framework of an explicit dynamical model, in which we calculate the radiatively-corrected, tree-level potential that sets up inflation, we show that the inflaton can be a significant part of dark matter today. We exhibit…
We study the possibility that, after inflation, the inflaton reaches thermal equilibrium with the Standard Model thermal bath and eventually freezes-out in the non-relativistic regime. When the inflaton decay is the sole source of…
We present a minimal UV complete framework to embed inflation and dark matter by extending the standard model with a singlet real scalar field (the inflaton) and a singlet fermonic field acting as dark matter. The inflaton features the most…
If cosmic inflation was driven by an electrically neutral scalar field stable on cosmological time scales, the field necessarily constitutes all or part of dark matter (DM). We study this possibility in a scenario where the inflaton field…
We examine an intriguing possibility that a single field is responsible for both inflation and dark matter, focussing on the minimal set-up where inflation is driven by a scalar coupling to curvature. We study in detail the reheating…
We show that the decay of the inflaton field may be incomplete, while nevertheless successfully reheating the universe and leaving a stable remnant that accounts for the present dark matter abundance. We note, in particular, that since the…
Weakly- and Feebly-Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs and FIMPs) are among the best-motivated dark matter (DM) candidates. In this paper, we investigate the production of DM through the WIMP and FIMP mechanisms during inflationary…
We consider a scenario where the inflaton decays to a hidden sector thermally decoupled from the visible Standard Model sector. A tiny portal coupling between the hidden and the visible sectors later heats the visible sector so that the…
The standard cosmological paradigm assumes that the inflaton field becomes dynamically negligible during the post-reheating evolution of the Universe. We demonstrate that this assumption fails for a broad class of inflationary models where…
We discuss a minimal extension of the Standard Model (SM) where a single real scalar field serves as both inflaton and dark matter. The corresponding Lagrangian contains the renormalizable interactions of the inflaton field. Quantum effects…
We investigate for viable models of inflation that can successfully produce dark matter (DM) from inflaton decay process, satisfying all the constraints from Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and from some other observations. In particular,…
We describe a general scenario, dubbed "Inflatable Dark Matter", in which the density of dark matter particles can be reduced through a short period of late-time inflation in the early universe. The overproduction of dark matter that is…
A reheating phase in the early universe is an essential part of all inflationary models during which not only the Standard Model (SM) quanta are produced but it can also shed light on the production of dark matter. In this work, we explore…
Our present understanding of the reheating phase is incomplete due to a lack of observations. Apart from its cosmological implications, the reheating should play a vital role in particle physics and inflation model building. Conventionally…
A special class of conformal gravity theories is proposed to solve the long standing problem of the fine-tuned cosmological constant. In the proposed model time evolution of the inflaton field leaves behind a nearly vanishing, but finite…
We describe the challenges and pathways when probing inflaton as dark matter with the stochastic gravitational waves (GWs) signal generated during the (p)reheating. Such scenarios are of utmost interest when no other interaction between the…
In a recent paper, Liddle and Urena-Lopez suggested that to have a unified model of inflation and dark matter is imperative to have a proper reheating process where part of the inflaton field remains. In this paper I propose a model where…