Graceful exit from inflation and reheating with twin waterfalls

Abstract

We study the hybrid inflation with a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson inflaton and two waterfall scalar fields. The $Z_2$ symmetry for the waterfall fields keeps inflaton potential flat against quantum corrections coming from the waterfall couplings, and it is broken spontaneously in the vacuum without a domain wall problem within the Hubble horizon of our universe. We show that the $Z_2$ invariant Higgs portal couplings to the waterfall fields are responsible for the reheating process, leading to a sufficiently large reheating temperature after inflation. In the presence of an extra $Z'_2$ symmetry, one of the waterfall fields or another singlet scalar field becomes a dark matter candidate. In particular, we find that preheating is sufficient to account for the correct relic density of the waterfall dark matter.