Related papers: The Secret Higgstory of the Highest Temperature du…
We study the details of eternal inflation in the presence of a spectator Higgs field within the framework of the minimal Standard Model. We have recently shown that in the presence of scalar field(s) which allow inflation only within a…
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 propose a new inflation model in which a gauge singlet inflaton turns into the Higgs condensate after inflation. The inflationary path is characterized by a moduli space of supersymmetric vacua spanned by the inflaton and Higgs field.…
We study the dynamics of the standard model Higgs field in the inflationary cosmology. Since metastability of our vacuum is indicated by the current experimental data of the Higgs boson and top quark, inflation models with a large Hubble…
The reheating phase after inflation is one of the least observationally constrained epochs in the evolution of the Universe. The forthcoming gravitational wave observatories will enable us to constrain at least some of the non-standard…
We make use of classical lattice simulations in 3 + 1 dimensions to study the preheating stage of Higgs Inflation in Einstein-Cartan gravity. Focusing for concreteness on a simplified scenario involving the seminal Nieh-Yan term, we…
We study thermalization of the early Universe when the inflaton can decay into the Standard Model (SM) quarks and gluons, using QCD arguments. We describe the possible formation of the thermal plasma of soft gluons and quarks well before…
We investigated inflation in the Higgs-$R^2$ model and assumed the trajectory to follow a single-field approximation called minimal two-field mode. Using this approximation, we tried to constrain the Higgs' non-minimal coupling $\xi$.…
We propose a non-oscillatory no-scale supergravity model of inflation (NO-NO inflation) in which the inflaton does not oscillate at the end of the inflationary era. Instead, the Universe is then dominated by the inflaton kinetic energy…
We consider the possibility of regarding the maximum temperature $\tm$ of a plasma of inflaton decay products as a Hagedorn temperature connected with the transition from an inflaton-dominated epoch to a radiation-dominated universe.…
We calculate the reheating temperature in scenarios where heavy particles are gravitationally produced during a phase transition. We explore two distinct situations: the decay of these particles both during and after the kination phase.…
According to the standard lore, a prolonged inflation leaves a quantum field theory in a cold, low entropy state. Thus, some mechanism is needed to reheat this post-inflationary state, leaving a hot, thermal, radiation-dominated Universe.…
The warm inflation paradigm considers the continuous production of radiation during inflation due to dissipative effects. In its strong dissipation limit, warm inflation gives way to a radiation dominated Universe. High scale inflation then…
We consider scenarios where the inflaton field decays dominantly to a hidden dark matter (DM) sector. By studying the typical behavior of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs field during inflation, we derive a relation between the primordial…
Strong coupling in Higgs inflation at high energies hinders a joint description of inflation, reheating and low-energy dynamics. The situation may be improved with a proper UV completion of the model. A well-defined self-consistent way is…
Non-perturbative preheating decay of post-inflationary condensates often results in a high density, low momenta, non-thermal gas. In the case where the non-perturbative classical evolution also leads to Q-balls, this effect shields them…
Current Higgs boson and top quark data favor metastability of our vacuum which raises questions as to why the Universe has chosen an energetically disfavored state and remained there during inflation. In this Letter, we point out that these…
The big bang model and the history of the early universe according to the grand unified theories are introduced. The shortcomings of big bang are discussed together with their resolution by inflationary cosmology. Inflation, the subsequent…
We calculate the relaxation rate of a scalar field in a plasma of other scalars and fermions with gauge interactions using thermal quantum field theory. It yields the rate of cosmic reheating and thereby determines the temperature of the…
The Higgs inflation scenario is an approach to realize the cosmic inflation, where the Higgs boson plays a role of the inflaton. In the minimal model, it would be difficult to satisfy theoretical constraints from vacuum stability and…