Related papers: Numerical study of the Schwinger effect in axion i…
In a class of (pseudoscalar) inflation, inflationary phase is followed by a kination phase, where the Universe is dominated by the kinetic energy of the inflaton that runs away in a vanishing scalar potential. In this class of…
In models of inflation driven by an axion-like pseudoscalar field, the inflaton, a, may couple to the standard model hypercharge via a Chern-Simons-type interaction, $L \subset a/(4\Lambda) F\tilde{F}$. This coupling results in explosive…
$R^2$-Higgs inflation stands out as one of the best-fit models of Planck data. Using a covariant formalism for the inflationary dynamics and the production of helical gauge fields, we show that the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe…
Pair-creation of charged particles in a strong gauge-field background - the renowned Schwinger effect - can strongly alter the efficiency of gauge-field production during axion inflation. It is therefore crucial to have a clear…
We study the production and backreaction of massive vector-like fermions in the background of a classical SU(2) gauge field during axion-driven inflation. We demonstrate all ultraviolet divergences due to the interactions with the fermions…
We present a novel scenario for baryogenesis in a hybrid inflation model at the electroweak scale, in which the Standard Model Higgs field triggers the end of inflation. One of the conditions for successful baryogenesis, the departure from…
We present the first lattice simulations of the nonlinear evolution after axion inflation by self-consistently incorporating currents arising from Schwinger pair production. The tachyonically amplified gauge fields trigger the growth of…
We show that quantum effects dramatically enhance the production of fermions following preheating after inflation in the early Universe in the presence of high excitations of bosonic quanta. As a consequence fermions rapidly approach a…
Axion inflation entails a coupling of the inflaton field to gauge fields through the Chern-Simons term. This results in a strong gauge field production during inflation, which backreacts on the inflaton equation of motion. Here we show that…
Fluctuations of scalar fields produced at the stage of preheating after inflation are so large that they can break supersymmetry much stronger than inflation itself. These fluctuations may lead to symmetry restoration along flat directions…
We study the explosive production of gauge fields during axion inflation in a novel gradient expansion formalism that describes the time evolution of a set of bilinear electromagnetic functions in position space. Based on this formalism, we…
Axion inflation coupled to the Standard Model (SM) hypercharge gauge sector represents an attractive scenario for the generation of primordial hypermagnetic fields. The description of this scenario is, however, complicated by the Schwinger…
$SU(2)$ gauge fields and axions can have a stable, isotropic and homogeneous configuration during inflation. However, couplings to other matter species lead to particle production, which in turn induces backreaction on and destabilization…
The coupling of an axion-like particle driving inflation to the Standard Model particle content through a Chern-Simons term generically sources a dual production of massless helical gauge fields and chiral fermions. We demonstrate that the…
We study the onset of the reheating epoch at the end of axion-driven inflation where the axion is coupled to an Abelian, $U(1)$, gauge field via a Chern-Simons interaction term. We focus primarily on $m^2\phi^2$ inflation and explore the…
We study magnetogenesis in axionlike inflation driven by a pseudoscalar field $\phi$ coupled axially to the electromagnetic (EM) field $(\beta/M_{p})\phi F_{\mu\nu}\tilde{F}^{\mu\nu}$ with dimensionless coupling constant $\beta$. A set of…
We investigate the reheating process in an axion inflation model where the inflaton couples to non-Abelian gauge fields via the Chern-Simons coupling. The Chern-Simons coupling leads to the efficient production of gauge fields via a…
We discuss Preheating after an inflationary stage driven by the Standard Model (SM) Higgs field non-minimally coupled to gravity. We find that Preheating is driven by a complex process in which perturbative and non-perturbative effects…
We investigate axion-inflation baryogenesis models, embedded into U(1) gauge symmetric extensions of the Standard Model (SM), in which the new gauge field couples to the pseudo-scalar inflaton via the Chern-Simons coupling. The motion of…
If the inflaton field is coupled to the hypercharge Chern-Simons density $F\tilde F$, an explosive production of helical gauge fields when inflation ends can trigger baryogenesis at the electroweak phase transition. Besides, Higgs inflation…