Related papers: Can dark matter drive electroweak symmetry breakin…
A minimal candidate for dark matter is provided by a stable standard model singlet hermitian scalar field. The quantum mechanical effects of this singlet are explored in a model where the standard model Higgs boson has a large non-minimal…
It is shown that dark energy can be obtained from the interplay of the Higgs boson and the inflaton. A key element is the realization that electroweak symmetry breaking can trigger a second phase of rolling of the inflaton, which, when…
The study of interactions between dark matter and the Higgs field opens an exciting connection between cosmology and particle physics, since such scenarios can impact the features of dark matter as well as interfering with the spontaneous…
We investigate a minimal extension of the Standard Model with a real singlet scalar and a singlet Dirac fermion acting as dark matter. Unlike a conventional singlet scalar setup, we assume that the singlet scalar does not acquire a vacuum…
A new cosmological scenario is proposed in which a light scalaron of $f (R)$ gravity plays the role of dark matter. In this scenario, the scalaron initially resides at the minimum of its effective potential while the electroweak symmetry is…
We propose a possibility that the inflaton potential is significantly modified after inflation due to heavy field dynamics. During inflation there may be a heavy scalar field stabilized at a value deviated from the low-energy minimum. As…
Scalar fields appear in many cosmological models, in particular in order to provide explanations for dark energy and inflation, but also to emulate dark matter. In this paper, we show that it is possible for a scalar field to replace…
Assuming a double-well bare potential for a self-interacting scalar field, with the Higgs vacuum expectation value, it is shown that non-perturbative quantum corrections naturally lead to ultra-light particles of mass $\simeq10^{-23}$eV, if…
The cosmic evolution of a dark matter model which behaves relativistically in the early Universe is explored. Dark matter is described as a complex scalar field, whose earliest evolution is characterized by a stiff equation of state ($p…
In this paper we consider a new approach to unify inflation and the late universe with dark energy and dark matter formulated in a model that includes a non-Riemannian metric independent measure and a scalar field with spontaneously broken…
We consider Dark Matter composed of an oscillating singlet scalar field. On top of the mass term, the scalar is equipped with a potential spontaneously breaking Z_2-symmetry. This potential dominates at early times and leads to the…
We construct a phenomenological model of electroweak-scale inflation that is in accordance with recent cosmic microwave background observations by WMAP, while setting the stage for a zero-temperature electroweak transition as assumed in…
The standard model Higgs boson can serve as the inflaton field of slow roll inflationary models provided it exhibits a large non-minimal coupling with the gravitational scalar curvature. The Higgs boson self interactions and its couplings…
We investigate the possibility of unifying the inflation and dark matter physics in the minimal model for a complex scalar dark matter with gauged $Z_3$ symmetry. The dark local $U(1)$ symmetry is broken spontaneously into the $Z_3$…
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…
Models of Dark Matter must contend with the fact that the presence of electroweak symmetry breaking along the thermal evolution of the Universe modifies the masses, interactions and, thus, the thermally averaged cross sections. We study in…
We present a model of Cosmological Electroweak Symmetry Breaking (CEWSB), where a Higgs-like field and a cosmological background of weak boson gauge fields interact with gravity to realize the epoch of cosmic inflation, which is then…
We explore a simple and predictive dark matter scenario involving a complex scalar field, $\phi$, coupled to the Higgs portal with no additional field content. In the UV, the field possesses a global $U(1)$ symmetry which is broken by mass…
We study the cosmological evolution of an induced gravity model with a scale symmetry breaking potential for the scalar field. The radiation to matter transition, following inflation and reheating, influences the dynamics of such a field…
We show that the stochastic evolution of an interacting system of the Higgs and a spectator scalar field naturally gives rise to an enhanced probability of settling down at the electroweak vacuum at the end of inflation. Subsequent…