# An Inflationary Probe of Cosmic Higgs Switching

## TL;DR

This paper explores how repeated phase transitions of a Higgs field during inflation, driven by a scalar modulus, can leave detectable imprints in the inflaton's correlation functions, offering a new probe of early universe physics.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel cosmological scenario where Higgs switching during inflation affects inflaton correlations, providing potential observational signatures.

## Key findings

- Inflaton 2-point function shows characteristic imprints of Higgs phase transitions.
- Numerical and analytic methods confirm the imprint patterns.
- Potential observability of these patterns in cosmological data.

## Abstract

A scalar Higgs field can be repeatedly switched on and off when it couples to a classically oscillating scalar modulus field. The modulus flips the Higgs mass term between stable and tachyonic values. We study a cosmological scenario in which such repeated phase transitions occur during inflation. An irrelevant operator coupling the Higgs field to the inflaton can then imprint the pattern of phase transitions in the correlation functions of the inflaton. Using both numerical and analytic studies, we show that the inflaton 2-point function carries characteristic imprints of the modulus oscillation and its effect on the Higgs boson. We briefly remark on the potential observability of such patterns and how they might be distinguished from other dynamics in the early universe.