Generation of the Higgs condensate and its decay after inflation
- University of Helsinki and Helsinki Institute of Physics, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014, Helsinki (Finland)
We investigate the dynamics of the Standard Model higgs with a minimal coupling to gravity during and after inflation. In the regime where the Standard Model vacuum is stable, we find that the higgs becomes a light spectator field after about 30 efolds of inflation, irrespectively of its initial value. Once the higgs has become light, its root-mean-square value h{sub *} relaxes to equilibrium in about 85 efolds for the inflationary scale of H{sub *} = 10{sup 4} GeV and in 20 efolds for H{sub *} = 10{sup 10} GeV. The equilibrium value is given by h{sub *} ∼ 0.36λ{sub *}{sup −1/4}H{sub *}, where λ{sub *} = 0.09...0.0005 is the higgs self coupling at the scales H{sub *} = 10{sup 4}...10{sup 10} GeV. We show that the main decay channel of the higgs condensate after inflation is the resonant production of Standard Model gauge bosons. For a set of parameters we find that a significant part of the condensate has decayed in between 340 and 630 Hubble times after the onset of higgs oscillations, depending on H{sub *} in a non-trivial way. The higgs perturbations correspond to isocurvature modes during inflation but they could generate significant adiabatic perturbations at a later stage for example through a modulation of the reheating stage. However, this requires that the inflaton(s) decay no later than a few hundred Hubble times after the onset of higgs oscillations.
- OSTI ID:
- 22369961
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2013, Issue 10; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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