Inflation and Electroweak Symmetry Breaking

TL;DR

This paper proposes a cosmological model where electroweak symmetry breaking is linked with inflation, involving Higgs-like fields and gauge fields, leading to potential observable signatures in the CMB.

Contribution

It introduces a novel model connecting electroweak symmetry breaking with inflation, including a Higgs resonance preheating mechanism and phenomenological implications.

Findings

The model links electroweak scale to the end of inflation.

Higgs resonance preheating can produce CMB signatures.

Potential realization with the Standard Model Higgs doublet.

Abstract

We present a model of Cosmological Electroweak Symmetry Breaking (CEWSB), where a Higgs-like field and a cosmological background of weak boson gauge fields interact with gravity to realize the epoch of cosmic inflation, which is then followed by a Higgs resonance preheating. As a result, the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking is linked with the end of inflation. The theory is equipped with a shift symmetry that can protect the Higgs mass, and it has close semblance to natural inflation and its variants. As the Higgs field's amplitude decays at the end of inflation, its mass emerges. The model has a built in Higgs self-resonance preheating mechanism which leads to the possible emergence of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) due to resonant Higgs, quark and lepton production after inflation. We provide a pathway to implement a similar mechanism with the realistic Higgs-doublet of the standard electroweak theory and discuss phenomenological considerations.