PPC 2023: XVI International Conference on Interactions between Particle Physics and Cosmology

Inflation and tachyonic preheating with twin waterfalls

Not scheduled

20m

Conference room (2nd floor) (IBS)

Parallel: Cosmology 1

Speaker

Adriana Menkara (Chung Ang University)

Description

In view of the improving measurements of the tensor-to-scalar ratio, hybrid inflation remains a suitable mechanism to achieve low-scale inflation. However, as originally proposed, hybrid inflation with a single waterfall field gives rise to a hierarchy problem, also known as the $\eta$ problem. In this work, we consider an extension to the original model in which twin waterfall fields, related by a $Z_2$ symmetry, ensure the flatness of the inflationary potential. We study the initial conditions required for successful inflation and the post-inflationary epochs of perturbative reheating and tachyonic preheating. We also comment on how our model can arise from a microscopical dark QCD model.