Dark Matter from the Inflaton Field

Abstract

We present a model where inflation and Dark Matter takes place via a single scalar field phi. Without introducing any new parameters we are able unify inflation and Dark Matter using a scalar field phi that accounts for inflation at an early epoch while it gives a Dark Matter WIMP particle at low energies. After inflation our universe must be reheated and we must have a long period of radiation dominated before the epoch of Dark Matter. Typically the inflaton decays while it oscillates around the minimum of its potential. If the inflaton decay is not complete or sufficient then the remaining energy density of the inflaton after reheating must be fine tuned to give the correct amount of Dark Matter. An essential feature here, is that Dark Matter-Inflaton particle is produced at low energies without fine tuning or new parameters. This process uses the same coupling g as for the inflaton decay. Once the field phi becomes non-relativistic it will decouple as any WIMP particle, since n_phi is exponentially suppressed. The correct amount of Dark Matter determines the cross section and we have a constraint between the coupling $g$ and the mass $m_o$ of phi. The unification scheme we present here has four free parameters, two for the scalar potential V(phi) given by the inflation parameter lambda of the quartic term and the mass m_o. The other two parameters are the coupling $g$ between the inflaton phi and a scalar filed varphi and the coupling h between varphi with standard model particles psi or chi. These four parameters are already present in models of inflation and reheating process, without considering Dark Matter. Therefore, our unification scheme does not increase the number of parameters and it accomplishes the desired unification between the inflaton and Dark Matter for free.