PIRSA:16100030

Video URL

https://pirsa.org/16100030

A (The?) Higgs Vacuum Instability During Inflation

Kearney, J. (2016). A (The?) Higgs Vacuum Instability During Inflation. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. https://pirsa.org/16100030

Kearney, John. A (The?) Higgs Vacuum Instability During Inflation. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Oct. 04, 2016, https://pirsa.org/16100030 

          @misc{ scivideos_PIRSA:16100030,
            doi = {10.48660/16100030},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/16100030},
            author = {Kearney, John},
            keywords = {Particle Physics},
            language = {en},
            title = {A (The?) Higgs Vacuum Instability During Inflation},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics},
            year = {2016},
            month = {oct},
            note = {PIRSA:16100030 see, \url{https://scivideos.org/index.php/pirsa/16100030}}
          }

John Kearney Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab)

Talk numberPIRSA:16100030
DOI10.48660/16100030
Source RepositoryPIRSA
Collection
Talk Type Scientific Series
Subject

Abstract

Supposing there exists no new physics stabilizing the weak scale, the Standard Model Higgs potential exhibits a true vacuum at large field values, rendering the electroweak vacuum metastable (i.e., long lived relative to the age of the Universe). While this scenario need not preclude our current existence, it may not reconcile with a period of large(ish)-field inflation---large fluctuations in the Higgs field, induced by the inflationary energy density, can lead to the field locally sampling the unstable/true vacuum part of the potential, with potentially disastrous consequences. Evaluating the extent to which large-field inflation and the Higgs vacuum instability are incompatible requires understanding (i) how Higgs fluctuations evolve during inflation and (ii) the fate of large local fluctuations that sample the part of the potential beyond the barrier that separates the electroweak and true vacua. In this talk, I will discuss both of these aspects, and explain the implications for large-field inflation.