Dynamics of Electroweak Gauge Fields during and after Higgs Inflation

Abstract

We study the dynamics of $SU(2)_L$ times $U(1)_Y$ electroweak gauge fields during and after Higgs inflation. In particular, we investigate configurations of the gauge fields during inflation and find the gauge fields remain topologically non-trivial. We also find that the gauge fields grow due to parametric resonances caused by oscillations of a Higgs field after inflation. We show that the Chern-Simons number also grows significantly. Interestingly, the parametric amplification gives rise to sizable magnetic fields after the inflation whose final amplitudes depend on the anisotropy survived during inflation.