Related papers: $R^2$/Higgs inflation and the hierarchy problem
We consider the construction of inverted hybrid inflation models in which the vacuum energy during inflation is at the TeV scale, and the inflaton couples to the Higgs field. Such models are of interest in the context of some recently…
The BICEP2 collaboration has recently released data showing that the scalar-to-tensor ratio $r$ is much larger than expected. The immediate consequence, in the context of $f(R)$ gravity, is that the Starobinsky model of inflation is ruled…
The measured values of the Higgs and top masses and of the strong gauge coupling constant point to the near-criticality of the Standard Model, where two vacua at the electroweak and Planck scales are quasi-degenerate. We argue that the…
We consider the effect of a period of inflation with a high energy density upon the stability of the Higgs potential in the early universe. The recent measurement of a large tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r_T \sim 0.16$, by the BICEP-2 experiment…
A remarkable prediction of the Standard Model is that, in the absence of corrections lifting the energy density, the Higgs potential becomes negative at large field values. If the Higgs field samples this part of the potential during…
We show a model-independent fine-tuning issue in the DBI inflationary mechanism. DBI inflation requires a warp factor h small enough to sufficiently slow down the inflaton. On the other hand, the Einstein equation in extra dimensions under…
We study inflation and cosmological electroweak phase transitions utilizing the Standard model augmented by $N$ scalars respecting a global $O(N)$ symmetry. We observe that the representation of the global symmetry is restricted by the…
We present a class of non-supersymmetric models in which so-called critical Higgs inflation ($\xi<100$) naturally can be realized without using specific values for Higgs and top quark masses. In these scenarios, the Standard Model (SM)…
Within the framework of RG improved inflationary cosmology motivated by asymptotically safe gravity, we study the dynamics of a scalar field which can be interpreted as the Higgs field. The background trajectories of this model can provide…
To explain the accelerated expansion of late universe, the 1/R correction to Einstein gravity is usually considered, where R is the Ricci scalar. This correction term is generally believed to be negligible in the early universe. However, if…
Current measurements of the Higgs boson mass and top Yukawa coupling suggest that the effective Higgs potential develops an instability below the Planck scale. If the energy scale of inflation is as high as the GUT scale, inflationary…
We put forward novel extensions of Starobinsky inflation, involving a class of 'geometric' higher-curvature corrections that yield second-order Friedmann-Lema\^itre equations and second-order-in-time linearized equations around cosmological…
In the Einstein frame picture of Starobinky's $R^2$ inflation model, cosmic inflation is driven by a slowly rolling inflaton field, called scalaron, and followed by a coherently oscillating scalaron phase. Since the scalaron oscillates…
We have found numerically initial conditions in the $(R, H)$ plane leading to a successful Starobinsky inflation in $R+R^2$ gravity for a isotropic metrics with positive spatial curvature. Trajectories can reach inflation regime either…
The measurement of the Higgs mass at the LHC has confirmed that the Standard Model electroweak vacuum is a shallow local minimum and is not absolutely stable. In addition to a probable unacceptably fast tunneling to the deep true minimum,…
We analyse the self-consistency of inflation in the Standard Model, where the Higgs field has a large non-minimal coupling to gravity. We determine the domain of energies in which this model represents a valid effective field theory as a…
We consider ${\cal{R}}^2$-inflation in Palatini gravity, in the presence of scalar fields coupled to gravity. These theories, in the Einstein frame, and for one scalar field $h$, share common features with $K$ - inflation models. We apply…
In previous publications we have proposed that Inflation can be realized in a second minimum of the Standard Model Higgs potential at energy scales of about $10^{16}$ GeV, if the minimum is not too deep and if a mechanism which allows a…
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…
We discuss the soundness of inflationary scenarios in theories beyond the Starobinsky model, namely a class of theories described by arbitrary functions of the Ricci scalar and the K-essence field. We discuss the pathologies associated with…