Running inflation with unitary Higgs

Understand

We consider the renormalization group(RG) improved inflaton potential in unitarized Higgs inflation where the original Higgs inflation is unitarized by the addition of a real singlet scalar of sigma-model type.

• The sigma field coupling to the Higgs, which is introduced to reproduce a large non-minimal coupling of the Higgs below the sigma scalar threshold, also improves the Standard Model vacuum stability due to the RG running.
• Furthermore, the same sigma field coupling determines the reheating temperature or the number of efoldings.
• Considering the uncertainties in the number of efoldings in the model, we show that the loop-corrected spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio are consistent with nine-year WMAP and new Planck data within 1sigma.