Modified hybrid inflation, reheating and stabilization of the electroweak vacuum

Understand

We propose a modification to the standard hybrid inflation model \cite{Linde:1993cn}, that connects a successful hybrid inflation scenario to the standard model Higgs sector, via the electroweak vacuum stability.

• The proposed model results in an effective inflation potential of a hilltop-type, with both the trans-Planckian and sub-Planckian inflation regimes consistent with the recent Planck/BICEP combined results.
• Reheating via the inflation sector decays to right-handed neutrinos is considered.
• An upper bound on the reheating temperature $T_{\rm R} \lsim 2\times 10^{11}~(1\times 10^{13})$ GeV, for large~(small) field inflation, will suppress contributions from one-loop quantum corrections to the inflation potential.