Coleman-Weinberg SO(10) GUT Theories as Inflationary Models

TL;DR

This paper investigates SO(10) GUT theories as models for cosmic inflation, demonstrating that with fine-tuned initial conditions, they can produce sufficient inflation, but often end due to parametric resonance.

Contribution

It applies the one-loop effective potential of SO(10) GUTs to cosmology, analyzing inflation dynamics and the conditions for its termination via parametric resonance.

Findings

Long inflation possible with fine-tuning of initial conditions

Parametric resonance leads to end of inflation in certain symmetry directions

Sufficient e-folds achieved under specific parameter choices

Abstract

The flat-space limit of the one-loop effective potential for SO(10) GUT theories in spatially flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmologies is applied to study the dynamics of the early universe. The numerical integration of the corresponding field equations shows that, for such grand unified theories, a sufficiently long inflationary stage is achieved for suitable choices of the initial conditions. However, a severe fine tuning of these initial conditions is necessary to obtain a large $e$-fold number. In the direction with residual symmetry $SU(4)_{PS} \otimes SU(2)_{L} \otimes SU(2)_{R}$, one eventually finds parametric resonance for suitable choices of the free parameters of the classical potential. This phenomenon leads in turn to the end of inflation.