Reheating consistency condition on the classically conformal $U(1)_{B-L}$ Higgs inflation model

Abstract

We revisit a cosmological scenario based on the classically conformal $U(1)_{B-L}$-extension of the Standard Model. Our focus is on the mechanism of reheating after inflation and the constraints on the model parameters. In this scenario, the inflationary dynamics is driven by the $U(1)_{B-L}$ Higgs field that is nonminimally coupled to gravity and breaks the $U(1)_{B-L}$ symmetry spontaneously as it acquires a vacuum expectation value through the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism. It is found that the reheating process proceeds stepwise, and as the decay channels of the $U(1)_{B-L}$ Higgs field are known, the reheating temperature is evaluated. The relation between the e-folding number of inflation and the reheating temperature provides a strong consistency condition on the model parameters, and we find that the recent cosmological data gives an upper bound on the $U(1)_{B-L}$ breaking scale $v_{BL}\lesssim 10^{12}$ GeV. The lower bound is $v_{BL}\gtrsim 10^6$ GeV, obtained as the condition for successful reheating in this model. The prediction for the cosmic microwave background (CMB) spectrum of this model fits extremely well with today's cosmological data. The model can be tested and is falsifiable by near future CMB observations, including the LiteBIRD and CMB-S4.