Inflaton phenomenology via reheating in light of primordial gravitational waves and the latest BICEP/$Keck$ data

Abstract

We are in the era of precision cosmology which offers us a unique opportunity to investigate beyond standard model physics. Toward this endeavor, inflaton is assumed to be a perfect new physics candidate. In this submission, we explore the phenomenological impact of the latest observation of PLANCK and BICEP/$Keck$ data on the physics of inflation. We particularly study three different models of inflation, namely $\alpha$-attractor E, T, and the minimal plateau model. We further consider two different post-inflationary reheating dynamics driven by inflaton decaying into bosons and fermions. Given the latest data in the inflationary $(n_s-r)$ plane, we derive detailed phenomenological constraints on different inflaton parameters and the associated physical quantities, such as inflationary $e$-folding number, $N_{ k}$, reheating temperatures $T_{\rm re}$. Apart from considering direct observational data, we further incorporate the bounds from primordial gravitational waves (PGWs) and different theoretical constraints. Rather than in the laboratory, our results illustrate the potential of present and future cosmological observations to look for new physics in the sky.