Related papers: $R^2$/Higgs inflation and the hierarchy problem
We revisit a single-field new inflation model based on a discrete R symmetry. Interestingly, the inflaton dynamics naturally leads to a heavy gravitino of mass m_3/2 = O(1-100) TeV, which is consistent with the standard-model like Higgs…
We investigate the impact of preheating on baryogenesis in $R^2$-Higgs inflation. In this scenario, the inclusion of a dimension-six operator ${(R/ \Lambda^2)} B_{\mu\nu} \widetilde{B}^{\mu\nu} $ abundantly generates helical hypermagnetic…
We study Higgs-like inflation in the framework of scalar-torsion gravity, focusing on the general class of $f(T,\phi)$ theories in which gravitation is mediated by torsion rather than curvature. Motivated by the increasing precision of…
We show that dark matter abundance and the inflationary scale $H$ could be intimately related. Standard Model extensions with Higgs mediated couplings to new physics typically contain extra scalars displaced from vacuum during inflation. If…
Higher-order theories of gravity are a branch of modified gravity wherein the geometrodynamics of the four-dimensional Riemannian manifold is determined by field equations involving derivatives of the metric tensor of order higher than two.…
Several authors have recently argued that a satisfactory inflationary scenario can be implemented in the Standard Model (SM) by introducing a strong non-minimal coupling of the Higgs doublet to gravity. It is shown here that type I seesaw…
We study a model of inflation in which a scalar field $\chi$ is non-minimally coupled to Starobinsky's $R^2$ gravity. After transforming it to the Einstein frame, a new scalar field, the scalaron $\phi$, will appear and couple to $\chi$…
We investigate the possibility of using the only known fundamental scalar, the Higgs, as an inflaton with minimal coupling to gravity. The peculiar appearance of a plateau or a false vacuum in the renormalised effective scalar potential…
The Higgs potential appears to be fine-tuned, hence very sensitive to values of other scalar fields that couple to the Higgs. We show that this feature can lead to a new epoch in the early universe featuring violent dynamics coupling the…
The accelerated expansion of the early universe is an integral part of modern cosmology and dynamically realized by the mechanism of inflation. The simplest theoretical description of the inflationary paradigm is based on the assumption of…
Reheating is essential for transforming the cold, vacuum dominated Universe at the end of inflation into the hot thermal bath required by the Standard Model. In many well motivated inflationary models, however, the inflaton has no direct…
We investigate the non-perturbative production of scalar particles within the Higgs-$R^2$ inflation model, focusing on a massive spectator field that interacts gravitationally via a non-minimal coupling to the Ricci scalar $R$. By…
We argue that the fine tuning problems of scalar-driven inflation may be worse than is commonly believed. The reason is that reheating requires the inflaton to be coupled to other matter fields whose vacuum fluctuations alter the inflaton…
Models of induced-gravity inflation are formulated within Supergravity employing as inflaton the Higgs field which leads to a spontaneous breaking of a U(1)_{B-L} symmetry at Mgut=2x10^16 GeV. We use a renormalizable superpotential, fixed…
We propose a model for combining the Standard Model (SM) with gravity. It relies on a non-minimal coupling of the Higgs field to the Ricci scalar and on the Palatini formulation of gravity. Without introducing any new degrees of freedom in…
We investigate the dependency of Higgs inflation on the non-renormalisable matching between the low energy Standard Model limit and the inflationary regime at high energies. We show that for the top mass range $m_t \gtrsim 171.8$ GeV the…
For the central values of the relevant experimental inputs, that is the strong coupling constant and the top quark and Higgs masses, the effective Higgs potential displays two minima, one at the electroweak scale and a deeper one at high…
We investigate an inflationary model involving a gauge singlet scalar and fermionic dark matter. The mixing between the singlet scalar and the Higgs boson provides a portal to dark matter. The inflaton could either be the Higgs boson or the…
We consider the ghost-free higher order corrections to the Starobinsky model in the old minimal supergravity. In general, higher order corrections cannot be forbidden by symmetries, which likely violate the flatness of the scalaron…
We investigate a very general class of cosmological models with scalar fields non-minimally coupled to gravity. A particular representative in this class is given by the non-minimal Higgs inflation model in which the Standard Model Higgs…