http://arxiv.org/abs/2112.11948
Quintessential inflation provides a unified description of inflation and dark energy in terms of a single scalar degree of freedom, the cosmon. We present here a comprehensive overview of this appealing paradigm, highlighting its key ingredients and keeping a reasonable and homogeneous level of details. After summarizing the cosmological evolution in a simple canonical case, we discuss how quintessential inflation can be embedded in a more general scalar-tensor formulation and its relation to variable gravity scenarios. Particular emphasis is placed on the role played by symmetries. In particular, we discuss the evolution of the cosmon field in terms of ultraviolet and infrared fixed points potentially appearing in quantum gravity formulations. The second part of the review is devoted to the exploration of the phenomenological consequences of the paradigm. First, we discuss how direct couplings of the cosmon field to matter may affect neutrinos masses and primordial structure formation. Second, we describe how Ricci-mediated couplings to spectator fields can trigger the spontaneous symmetry breaking of internal symmetries and affect a large variety of physical processes in the early Universe.
D. Bettoni and J. Rubio
Thu, 23 Dec 21
56/63
Comments: Invited review for the special issue “Latest Developments in the Quest for the Unification of Cosmic Inflation and Dark Energy” of Galaxies. 51 pages, including references and appendixes; 9 figures. Comments welcome
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