Higgs Inflation Scenario Research Articles

Probing stochastic gravitational wave background from SU(5) × U(1)χ strings in light of NANOGrav 15-year data

A realistic model of SU(5) × U(1)χ, embedded in SO(10) supersymmetric grand unified theory, is investigated for the emergence of a metastable cosmic string network. This network eventually decays via the Schwinger production of monopole-antimonopole pairs, subsequently generating a stochastic gravitational wave background that is compatible with the NANOGrav 15-year data. In order to avoid the monopole problem in the breaking of both SO(10) and SU(5), a non-minimal Higgs inflation scenario is incorporated. The radiative breaking of the U(1)χ symmetry at a slightly lower scale plays a pivotal role in aligning the string tension parameter with the observable range. The resultant gravitational wave spectrum not only accounts for the signal observed in the most recent pulsar timing array (PTA) experiments but is also accessible to both current and future ground-based and space-based experiments.

Baryogenesis from combined Higgs–scalar field inflation

We study a modification of the Higgs inflation scenario where we introduce an extra scalar $\phi$, with mass $m$, coupled to the Ricci scalar as $g\phi^2 R$, and mixed with the Higgs field $h$ via the Lagrangian term $\mu \phi h^2$. Both fields participate in the inflation process in a unitary theory that predicts values of the cosmological observables in agreement with the results from the Planck/BICEP/Keck collaborations. In addition, by means of a $\mathcal{CP}$-odd effective operator that couples $\phi$ to the Chern-Simons term of the hypercharge gauge group as $f_\phi^{-1}\phi \,Y_{\mu\nu}\tilde Y^{\mu\nu}$, maximally helical magnetic fields are produced during the last $e$-folds of inflation. We found a window in the coupling $ f_\phi$ where these fields survive all constraints until the electroweak phase transition, and source the baryon asymmetry of the Universe through the Standard Model chiral anomaly. From a phenomenological perspective, the model can solve the Standard Model instability problem at the scale $\mathcal Q_I\simeq 10^{11}$ GeV, provided that $\mu\lesssim m \lesssim \mathcal Q_I$, and for $m\lesssim \mathcal{O}$(few)~TeV, the $\phi$-$h$ mixing becomes sizable while the theory turns natural. The latter thus predicts modifications of the trilinear and quartic couplings that could be explored at the HE-LHC, as well as at future colliders, and allows for direct $\phi$ production at the LHC followed by decay into $hh$. Present results from ATLAS and CMS already put (mild) bounds on the mass of the heavy scalar as $m\gtrsim 0.55$~TeV at 95\% C.L.

Possible discrepancies between cosmological and electroweak observables in Higgs Inflation

In this work, we revisit the non-minimally coupled Higgs Inflation scenario and investigate its observational viability in light of the current Cosmic Microwave Background, Baryon Acoustic Oscillation and type Ia Supernovae data. We explore the effects of the Coleman-Weinberg approximation to the Higgs potential in the primordial universe, connecting the predictions for the Lagrangian parameters at inflationary scales to the electroweak observables through Renormalization Group methods at two-loop order. Initially, we find that electroweak scale measurements may be dissonant to the limits obtained from the cosmological data sets used in the analysis. Specifically, an ≈ 8σ-discrepancy between the inflationary parameters and the value of the Monte Carlo reconstructed top quark mass is found. However, considering the most recent results obtained by the CMS Collaboration from differential cross-section measurements of the top quark production a good agreement is obtained.

Palatini Higgs inflation and the refined dS conjecture

The refined de Sitter derivative conjecture provides constraints to potentials that are low energy effective theories of quantum gravity. It can give direct bounds on inflationary scenarios and determine whether the theory is in the Landscape or the Swampland. Any infationary model can be checked by these conditions and non-minimally coupled scalar field theory is not an exception. We consider the Palatini Higgs inflation scenario taking the refined de Sitter derivative conjecture into account. According to the latest cosmological observations from Planck 2018, BICEP2+Keck and the bound of non-minimal coupling parameter {\xi}, we suggest that if the refined dS conjecture does indeed hold, then the Palatini Higgs inflation model cannot be the low energy effective theory of a consistent quantum gravity theory since the two parameters c1 and c2 are much smaller than order 1, which is inconsistent with the refined dS conjecture. Therefore we suggest that it is in the Swampland.

Original Higgs inflation and phantom crossing

It is a standard practice to ignore the initial kinetic term in an inflationary analysis. Here, we overrule this practice to analyze pre-inflationary, inflationary and post-inflationary dynamics of the original Higgs-inflation model from a wider view. To this end, our calculations are not restricted to slow-roll regime. Perhaps, the most interesting result that we have found is the behavior of the field trajectories which begin their way from a phantom origin, before reaching a quasi de Sitter partial attractor. Both analytical and numerical calculations ultimately confirm that for the original Higgs inflation scenario the mentioned de Sitter path ends in an oscillatory phase which is the required condition for having (p)reheating. This achievement discriminates the current research from the previous studies about the late time phantom crossing scenarios which often end in a de Sitter future world. This confirms that a phantom energy epoch may deliver much more than has been thought earlier. In our calculations, we have employed the dynamical system method and explain the results both analytically and through the plotted numerical calculations. Beside the present results, the dynamical system approach can be used in other studies which deal with non-minimal gravity models. Reducing the number of dynamical variables to two enables us to enjoy the two dimensional phase diagram which is very elusive.

Higgs Inflation

The properties of the recently discovered Higgs boson together with the absence of new physics at collider experiments allows us to speculate about consistently extending the Standard Model of particle physics all the way up to the Planck scale. In this context, the Standard Model Higgs non-minimally coupled to gravity could be responsible for the symmetry properties of the Universe at large scales and for the generation of the primordial spectrum of curvature perturbations seeding structure formation. We overview the minimalistic Higgs inflation scenario, its predictions, open issues and extensions and discuss its interplay with the possible metastability of the Standard Model vacuum.

The 'unitarity problem' of Higgs inflation in the light of collapse dynamics

Higgs inflation scenario is one of the most compelling models of inflation at present time. It not only explains the observed data well, but also provides means to include the inflaton field within the well understood Standard Model of particle physics, without invoking any need for its extension. Despite this, due to the requirement of large non-minimal coupling to the curvature scalar of the inflaton field, or in this case the Higgs field, this model suffers from a problem often called as the `unitarity' or the `naturalness' problem. On the other hand, to address the longstanding `interpretational issue' of quantum to classical transition of the primordial modes, the collapse dynamics of quantum mechanics has recently been included into the inflationary mechanism. We show that inclusion of such collapse mechanism in Higgs inflation helps alleviate the `unitarity problem' to a great deal.

Revisiting Higgs inflation in the context of collapse theories

In this work we consider the Higgs inflation scenario, but in contrast with past works, the present analysis is done in the context of a spontaneous collapse theory for the quantum state of the inflaton field. In particular, we will rely on a previously studied adaptation of the Continuous Spontaneous Localization model for the treatment of inflationary cosmology. We will show that with the introduction of the dynamical collapse hypothesis, some of the most serious problems of the Higgs inflation proposal can be resolved in a natural way.

Constraining scalar-Gauss-Bonnet inflation by reheating, unitarity, and Planck data

We revisit the inflationary dynamics in detail for theories with Gauss-Bonnet gravity coupled to scalar functions, in light of the Planck data. Considering the chaotic inflationary scenario, we constrain the parameters of two models involving inflaton-Gauss-Bonnet coupling by current Planck data. For non zero inflaton-Gauss-Bonnet coupling $\beta$, an inflationary analysis provides us a big cosmologically viable region in the space of $(m,\beta)$, where $m$ is the mass of inflaton. However, we study further on constraining $\beta$ arising from reheating considerations and unitarity of tree-level amplitude involving we have studied the constraints on $\beta$ arising from reheating considerations and unitarity of tree level amplitude involving $2$ graviton $\rightarrow 2$ graviton ($h h\rightarrow hh$) scattering. Our analysis, particularly on reheating significantly reduces the parameter space of $(m,\beta)$ for all models. he quadratic Gauss-Bonnet coupling parameter turns out to be more strongly constrained than that of the linear coupling. For the linear Gauss-Bonnet coupling function, we obtain $\beta \lesssim 10^3$, with the condition $\beta (m/M_P)^2 \simeq 10^{-4}$. However, study of the Higgs inflation scenario in the presence of Gauss-Bonnet term turned out to be strongly disfavored.

Combined preheating on the lattice with applications to Higgs inflation

We use classical lattice simulations in 3+1 dimensions to study the interplay between the resonant production of particles during preheating and the subsequent decay of these into a set of secondary species. We choose to work in a simplified version of Higgs inflation in which the Higgs field non-minimally coupled to gravity plays the role of the inflaton. Our numerical results extend the analytical estimates in the literature beyond the linear regime and shed some light on the limitations of the analytical techniques. The inclusion of fast and inefficient decays postpones the onset of parametric resonance by depleting the particles produced at the bottom of the potential. In spite of this delay, fermions are shown to play an important role on the destruction of the inflaton field. The limitations of our approach and its applications to a realistic Higgs inflation scenario are also discussed.

Plateau inflation in SUGRA-MSSM

We explored a Higgs inflationary scenario in the SUGRA embedding of the MSSM in Einstein frame where the inflaton is contained in the $SU(2)$ Higgs doublet. We include all higher order non-renormalizable terms to the MSSM superpotential and an appropriate K\"ahler potential which can provide slow-roll inflaton potential in the $D-$flat direction. In this model, a plateau-like inflation potential can be obtained if the imaginary part of the neutral Higgs acts as the inflaton. The inflationary predictions of this model are consistent with the latest CMB observations. The model represents a successful Higgs inflation scenario in the context of Supergravity and it is compatible with Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model.

Living beyond the edge: Higgs inflation and vacuum metastability

The measurements of the Higgs mass and top Yukawa coupling indicate that we live in a very special Universe, at the edge of the absolute stability of the electroweak vacuum. If fully stable, the Standard Model (SM) can be extended all the way up to the inflationary scale and the Higgs field, non-minimally coupled to gravity with strength $\xi$, can be responsible for inflation. We show that the successful Higgs inflation scenario can also take place if the SM vacuum is not absolutely stable. This conclusion is based on two effects that were overlooked previously. The first one is associated with the effective renormalization of the SM couplings at the energy scale $M_P/\xi$, where $M_P$ is the Planck scale. The second one is a symmetry restoration after inflation due to high temperature effects that leads to the (temporary) disappearance of the vacuum at Planck values of the Higgs field.

Higgs inflation and general initial conditions

Higgs field of particle physics can play the role of the inflaton in the early universe, if it is non-minimally coupled to gravity. The Higgs inflation scenario predicts a small tensor to scalar ratio: $r\simeq 0.003$. Although this value is consistent with the upper bound $r < 0.12$ given by BICEP2/Keck Array and Planck data, but it is not at their maximum likelihood point: $r\simeq 0.05$. Inflationary observables depend not only on the inflationary models, but also depend on the initial conditions of inflation. Changing initial state of inflation can improve the value of $r$. In this work, we study the Higgs inflation model under general initial conditions and show that there is a subset of these general initial conditions which leads to enhancement of $r$. Then we show that this region of parameter space is consistent with non-Gaussianity bound.

Higgs inflation from standard model criticality

The observed Higgs mass $M_H=125.9\pm0.4$GeV leads to the criticality of the Standard Model, that is, the Higgs potential becomes flat around the scale $10^{17\text{--}18}$GeV for the top mass $171.3$GeV. Earlier we have proposed a Higgs inflation scenario in which this criticality plays a crucial role. In this paper, we investigate detailed cosmological predictions of this scenario in light of the latest Planck and BICEP2 results. We find that this scenario can be consistent with the constraint from the running index too. We also compute the Higgs one-loop effective potential including the Higgs portal scalar dark matter, with the two-loop renormalization group equations and find a constraint on the coupling between Higgs and dark matter depending on the inflationary parameters.

Self-gravitating spherical solutions of the nonminimally coupled non-Abelian Higgs model

Motivated by the Higgs Inflation scenario, we study static spherically symmetric solutions of the non-Abelian Higgs model coupled nonminimally to gravity. We find solutions for the self-gravitating sphaleron as well as monopolelike solutions and study the impact of the nonminimal coupling on their properties. Finally, we discuss briefly the possibility that these solutions interact gravitationally with starlike objects such as boson stars.

Self-unitarization of New Higgs Inflation and compatibility with Planck and BICEP2 data

In this paper we show that the Germani-Kehagias model of Higgs inflation (or New Higgs Inflation), where the Higgs boson is kinetically non-minimally coupled to the Einstein tensor is in perfect compatibility with the latest Planck and BICEP2 data. Moreover, we show that the tension between the Planck and BICEP2 data can be relieved within the New Higgs inflation scenario by a negative running of the spectral index. Regarding the unitarity of the model, we argue that it is unitary throughout the evolution of the Universe. Weak couplings in the Higgs-Higgs and Higgs-graviton sectors are provided by a large background dependent cut-off scale during inflation. In the same regime, the W and Z gauge bosons acquire a very large mass, thus decouple. On the other hand, if they are also non-minimally coupled to the Higgs boson, their effective masses can be enormously reduced. In this case, the W and Z bosons are no longer decoupled. After inflation, the New Higgs model is well approximated by a quartic Galileon with a renormalizable potential. We argue that this can unitarily create the right conditions for inflation to eventually start.

Higgs inflation is still alive after the results from BICEP2.

The observed value of the Higgs boson mass indicates that the Higgs potential becomes small and flat at the scale around 10(17) GeV. Having this fact in mind, we reconsider the Higgs inflation scenario proposed by Bezrukov and Shaposhnikov. It turns out that the nonminimal coupling ξ of the Higgs squared to the Ricci scalar can be smaller than 10. For example, ξ=7 corresponds to the tensor-to-scalar ratio r≃0.2, which is consistent with the recent observation by BICEP2.

Higgs inflation with singlet scalar dark matter and right-handed neutrino in light of BICEP2

We discuss the Higgs inflation scenario with singlet scalar dark matter and a right-handed neutrino. The singlet scalar and the right-handed neutrino play crucial roles for realizing a suitable plateau of Higgs potential with the center value of the top mass of Tevatron and LHC measurements. This Higgs inflation scenario predicts about a 1 TeV scalar dark matter and an $\mathcal{O}(1{0}^{14})\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$ right-handed neutrino by use of a 125.6 GeV Higgs mass, 173.34 GeV top mass, and a nonminimal gravity coupling $\ensuremath{\xi}\ensuremath{\simeq}10.1$. This inflation model is consistent with the recent result of the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r=0.2{0}_{\ensuremath{-}0.05}^{+0.07}$ by the BICEP2 Collaboration.

On the predictiveness of single-field inflationary models

We re-examine the predictiveness of single-field inflationary models and discuss how an unknown UV completion can complicate determining inflationary model parameters from observations, even from precision measurements. Besides the usual naturalness issues associated with having a shallow inflationary potential, we describe another issue for inflation, namely, unknown UV physics modifies the running of Standard Model (SM) parameters and thereby introduces uncertainty into the potential inflationary predictions. We illustrate this point using the minimal Higgs Inflationary scenario, which is arguably the most predictive single-field model on the market, because its predictions for $A_s$, $r$ and $n_s$ are made using only one new free parameter beyond those measured in particle physics experiments, and run up to the inflationary regime. We find that this issue can already have observable effects. At the same time, this UV-parameter dependence in the Renormalization Group allows Higgs Inflation to occur (in principle) for a slightly larger range of Higgs masses. We comment on the origin of the various UV scales that arise at large field values for the SM Higgs, clarifying cut off scale arguments by further developing the formalism of a non-linear realization of $\rm SU_L(2) \times U(1)$ in curved space. We discuss the interesting fact that, outside of Higgs Inflation, the effect of a non-minimal coupling to gravity, even in the SM, results in a non-linear EFT for the Higgs sector. Finally, we briefly comment on post BICEP2 attempts to modify the Higgs Inflation scenario.

Minimal Higgs inflation

We consider a possibility that the Higgs field in the Standard Model (SM) serves as an inflaton when its value is around the Planck scale. We assume that the SM is valid up to an ultraviolet cutoff scale \Lambda, which is slightly below the Planck scale, and that the Higgs potential becomes almost flat above \Lambda. Contrary to the ordinary Higgs inflation scenario, we do not assume the huge non-minimal coupling, of O(10^4), of the Higgs field to the Ricci scalar. We find that \Lambda must be less than 5*10^{17}GeV in order to explain the observed fluctuation of the cosmic microwave background, no matter how we extrapolate the Higgs potential above \Lambda. The scale 10^{17}GeV coincides with the perturbative string scale, which suggests that the SM is directly connected with the string theory. For this to be true, the top quark mass is restricted to around 171GeV, with which \Lambda can exceed 10^{17}GeV. As a concrete example of the potential above \Lambda, we propose a simple log type potential. The predictions of this specific model for the e-foldings N_*=50--60 are consistent with the current observation, namely, the scalar spectral index is n_s=0.977--0.983 and the tensor to scalar ratio 0<r<0.012--0.010. Other parameters, dn_s/dlnk, n_t, and their derivatives, are also consistent.