A Strong Electroweak Phase Transition from the Inflaton Field

TL;DR

This paper explores a singlet scalar extension of the Standard Model that couples to gravity and the Higgs, aiming to achieve successful inflation and a strong electroweak phase transition, while also considering additional fermions and dark matter implications.

Contribution

It introduces a model combining inflation, electroweak phase transition, and dark matter considerations within a singlet scalar framework, analyzing viable parameter regions.

Findings

Identifies parameter space compatible with inflation, LHC data, and strong electroweak phase transition.

Demonstrates the impact of singlet fermions on model constraints.

Discusses potential dark matter roles of the new fields.

Abstract

We study a singlet scalar extension of the Standard Model. The singlet scalar is coupled non-minimally to gravity and assumed to drive inflation, and also couple sufficiently strongly with the SM Higgs field in order to provide for a strong first order electroweak phase transition. Requiring the model to describe inflation successfully, be compatible with the LHC data, and yield a strong first order electroweak phase transition, we identify the regions of the parameter space where the model is viable. We also include a singlet fermion with scalar coupling to the singlet scalar to probe the sensitivity of the constraints on additional degrees of freedom and their couplings in the singlet sector. We also comment on the general feasibility of these fields to act as dark matter.