Inflection-point Higgs Inflation

Inflection-point inflation is an interesting possibility to realize a successful slow-roll inflation when inflation is driven by a single scalar field with its initial value below the Planck mass (φI . MP l). In order for a renormalization group (RG) improved effective λφ4 potential to develop an inflection-point, the quartic coupling λ(φ) must exhibit a minimum with an almost vanishing value in its RG evolution, namely λ(φI) ≃ 0 and βλ(φI) ≃ 0, where βλ is the beta-function of the quartic coupling. As an example, we consider the minimal gauged B − L extended Standard Model at the TeV scale, where we identify the B − L Higgs field as the inflaton field. For a successful inflection-point inflation, which is consistent with the current cosmological observations, the mass ratios among the Z ′ gauge boson, the right-handed neutrinos and the B − L Higgs boson are fixed. Our scenario can be tested in the future collider experiments such as the HighLuminosity LHC and the SHiP experiments. In addition, the inflection-point inflation provides a unique prediction for the running of the spectral index α ≃ −2.7× 10−3 ( 60 N 2 (N is the e-folding number), which can be tested in the near future. [email protected] [email protected]