Curvaton reheating in a Scale Invariant Two Measures Theory

TL;DR

This paper explores a scale-invariant two-measures theory with scalar fields, demonstrating how it can unify early universe inflation, dark energy, and reheating through a curvaton mechanism, with specific constraints and potential solutions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel scale-invariant two-measures framework with a curvaton, unifying inflation, dark energy, and reheating, and analyzes its implications and solutions.

Findings

Effective potential with two flat regions for the dilaton.

Curvaton oscillations responsible for reheating and perturbations.

Existence of a non-singular emergent universe solution.

Abstract

The curvaton reheating mechanism in a Scale Invariant Two Measures Theory defined in terms of two independent non-Riemannian volume forms (alternative generally covariant integration measure densities) on the space-time manifold which are metric independent is studied. The model involves two scalar matter fields, a dilaton, that transforms under scale transformations and it will be used also as the inflaton of the model and another scalar, which does not transform under scale transformations and which will play the role of a curvaton field. Potentials of appropriate form so that the pertinent action is invariant under global Weyl-scale symmetry are introduced. Scale invariance is spontaneously broken upon integration of the equations of motion. After performing transition to the physical Einstein frame we obtain: (i) For given value of the curvaton field an effective potential for the scalar field with two flat regions for the dilaton which allows for a unified description of both early universe inflation as well as of present dark energy epoch;(iii) In the phase corresponding to the early universe, the curvaton has a constant mass and can oscillate decoupled from the dilaton and that can be responsible for both reheating and perturbations in the theory. In this framework, we obtain some interesting constraints on different parameters that appear in our model; (iii) For a definite parameter range the model possesses a non-singular "emergent universe" solution which describes an initial phase of evolution that precedes the inflationary phase. Finally we discuss generalizations of the model, through the effect of higher curvature terms, where inflaton and curvaton can have coupled oscillations.