Abstract
We examine an intriguing possibility that a single field is responsible for both inflation and dark matter, focusing on the minimal set–up where inflation is driven by a scalar coupling to curvature. We study in detail the reheating process in this framework, which amounts mainly to particle production in a quartic potential, and distinguish thermal and non–thermal dark matter options. In the non–thermal case, the reheating is impeded by backreaction and rescattering, making this possibility unrealistic. On the other hand, thermalized dark matter is viable, yet the unitarity bound forces the inflaton mass into a narrow window close to half the Higgs mass.
Highlights
The absence of spectacular signals of new physics in particle experiments motivates one to explore scenarios based on minimalism
This bound applies at the TeV scale, while the couplings at the inflation scale are obtained by the solving the renormalization group (RG) equations
The concept of inflaton dark matter is interesting in that it is economical: a single field is responsible for both inflation and dark matter
Summary
The absence of spectacular signals of new physics in particle experiments motivates one to explore scenarios based on minimalism. The corresponding Lagrangian would be minimalistic: it is allowed to contain only renormalizable interactions augmented with a scalar coupling to curvature [1], which is in any case induced by quantum effects This is a rigid framework, yet it may account for some of the most puzzling aspects of modern cosmology. We study in detail the reheating processes in the minimal inflaton dark matter model, taking into account the relevant collective phenomena with the help of lattice simulations. We find that these make a crucial impact on the viability of the model
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