Dynamics of warm power-law plateau inflation with a generalized inflaton decay rate: predicctions and constraints after Planck 2015

Abstract

In the present work we study the consequences of considering a new family of single-field inflation models, called power-law plateau inflation, in the warm inflation framework. We consider the inflationary expansion is driven by a standard scalar field with a decay ratio $\Gamma$ having a generic power-law dependence with the scalar field $\phi$ and the temperature of the thermal bath $T$ given by $\Gamma(\phi,T)=C_{\phi}\,\frac{T^m}{\phi^{m-1}}$. Assuming that our model evolves according to the strong dissipative regime, we study the background and perturbative dynamics, obtaining the most relevant inflationary observables as the scalar power spectrum, the scalar spectral index and its running, and the tensor-to-scalar ratio. The free parameters characterizing our model are constrained by considering the essential condition for warm inflation, the conditions for the model evolves according to the strong dissipative regime, and the 2015 Planck results through the $n_s-r$ plane. For completeness, we study the predictions in the $n_s-dn_s/d\ln k$ plane. The model is consistent with a strong dissipative dynamics and predicts values for the tensor-to-scalar ratio and for the running of the scalar spectral index consistent with current bounds imposed by Planck, and we conclude that the model is viable.