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arXiv · 1812.10654

Higgs as heavy-lifted physics during inflation

Yi-Peng Wu
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Abstract

Signals of heavy particle production during inflation are encoded as non-analytic momentum scaling in primordial non-Gaussianity. These non-analytic signatures can be sourced by Standard Model particles with a modified Higgs scale uplifted by the slow-roll dynamics of inflation. We show that such a lifting mechanism becomes more efficient with the presence of a strong Higgs-inflaton mixing, where the Higgs mass scale is further increased by a small speed of sound in the effective theory of inflation. As a primary step towards detecting new particles in the cosmological collider program, non-Gaussianity due to heavy Higgs production in the strong-mixing regime can act as important background signals to be tested by future cosmological surveys.

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Yi-Peng Wu. 2018-12-27. Higgs as heavy-lifted physics during inflation. https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep04(2019)125

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