Higgs as heavy-lifted physics during inflation

Understand

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.