Abstract

We review and discuss recent work exploring the implications of the Higgs field for early universe cosmology, and vice versa. Depending on the model under consideration, the Higgs may be one of a few scalar fields determining the evolution and fate of the Universe, or the Higgs field may be connected to a rich sector of scalar moduli with complicated dynamics. In particular, we look at the potential consequences of the Higgs field for inflation and its predictions, for the (meta)stability of the Standard Model vacuum, and for the existence of dynamical selection mechanisms in the landscape.

Highlights

  • Implications of mh = 125 GeVThe observation of the Higgs boson in 2012 [1,2], with a mass of mh = 125 GeV, marked the last piece of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics to be discovered and inaugurated a new era of precision Higgs boson physics

  • Hadron Collider has not observed any evidence for weak-scale supersymmetry or other particles beyond the SM, leaving the physics that sets the scale of the Higgs boson mass unresolved

  • That as the electroweak phase transition occurs at energies near those of particle physics, further evidence of new particles at the TeV scale may be required as well in order to confirm that the phase transition is a consequence of the Higgs field, and many of these models are already constrained by the observed consistency of the Higgs boson properties with the predictions of the Standard Model

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Summary

Introduction

Continuing experiments at higher energies and intensities may help to resolve these questions; the absence of data indicating the existence of new physics at higher scales poses challenges for the design and implementation of the generation of collider searches. In this situation, a convergence between particle physics and cosmology may be our best opportunity to probe or constrain model building, given that extremely high energies have already been achieved by the conditions in the early universe.

The Higgs Field and Inflation
The Higgs Field as the Inflaton
The Higgs as a Spectator Field
The Higgs Field and Vacuum Metastability
Stability of the SM Vacuum
Electroweak Phase Transition
The Higgs Field and the Landscape
Conclusions and Future Directions
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