Remote Inflation: Hybrid-like inflation without hybrid-type potential

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel hybrid-like inflation scenario driven by remote sector dynamics, avoiding complex couplings, and predicts distinctive signatures in the primordial spectrum, with potential links to quintessence.

Contribution

It proposes a new inflation model where radiation maintains symmetry restoration remotely, allowing flexible inflaton behavior and unique observational signatures without hybrid potential complexities.

Findings

Remote inflation can produce observable spectrum features from phase transitions.

It allows for inflaton as quintessence without extra mechanisms.

Significant perturbation amplification or suppression can occur during warm inflation.

Abstract

A new scenario of hybrid-like inflation is considered without using hybrid-type potential. Radiation raised continuously by a dissipating inflaton field keeps symmetry restoration in a remote sector, and the false-vacuum energy of the remote sector dominates the energy density during inflation. Remote inflation is terminated when the temperature reaches the critical temperature, or when the slow-roll condition is violated. Without introducing a complex form of couplings, inflaton field may either roll-in (like a standard hybrid inflation) or roll-out (like an inverted-hybrid model or quintessential inflation) on arbitrary inflaton potential. Significant signatures of remote inflation can be observed in the spectrum caused by (1) the inhomogeneous phase transition in the remote sector, or (2) a successive phase transition in the remote sector. Remote inflation can predict strong amplification or suppression of small-scale perturbations without introducing multiple inflation. Since the inflaton may have a run-away potential, it is also possible to identify the inflaton with quintessence, without introducing additional mechanisms. Even if the false-vacuum energy is not dominated by the remote sector, the phase transition in the remote sector is possible during warm inflation, which may cause significant amplification/suppression of the curvature perturbations.