Triple unification of inflation, dark matter, and dark energy using a single field

Abstract

We construct an explicit scenario whereby the same material driving inflation in the early universe can comprise dark matter in the present universe, using a simple quadratic potential. Following inflation and preheating, the density of inflaton/dark matter particles is reduced to the observed level by a period of thermal inflation, of a duration already invoked in the literature for other reasons. Within the context of the string landscape, one can further argue for a nonzero vacuum energy of this field, thus unifying inflation, dark matter, and dark energy into a single fundamental field.