Inflation at the Electroweak Scale

Abstract

We present a simple model for slow-rollover inflation where the vacuum energy that drives inflation is of the order of $G_F^{-2}$; unlike most models, the conversion of vacuum energy to radiation (``reheating'') is moderately efficient. The scalar field responsible for inflation is a standard-model singlet, develops a vacuum expectation value of the order of $4\times 10^6\GeV$, has a mass of order $1\GeV$, and can play a role in electroweak phenomena.