Weyl current, scale-invariant inflation, and Planck scale generation

Journal article

Scalar fields, $\phi_i$ can be coupled non-minimally to curvature and satisfy the general criteria: (i) the theory has no mass input parameters, including the Planck mass; (ii) the $\phi_i$ have arbitrary values and gradients, but undergo a general expansion and relaxation to constant values that satisfy a nontrivial constraint, $K(\phi_i) =$ constant; (iii) this constraint breaks scale symmetry spontaneously, and the Planck mass is dynamically generated; (iv) there can be adequate inflation associated with slow roll in a scale invariant potential subject to the constraint; (v) the final vacuum can have a small to vanishing cosmological constant (vi) large hierarchies in vacuum expectation values can naturally form; (vii) there is a harmless dilaton which naturally eludes the usual constraints on massless scalars. These models are governed by a global Weyl scale symmetry and its conserved current, $K_\mu$ . At the quantum level the Weyl scale symmetry can be maintained by an invariant specification of renormalized quantities.

Authors: Ferreira, P; Hill, C; Ross, G

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Journal: Physical Review D
• Volume: 95
• Issue: 4
• Article number: 043507
• Publication date: 2017-02-08
• Acceptance date: 2016-01-01
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.043507
• EISSN: 2470-0029
• ISSN: 2470-0010
• Keywords: astro-ph.CO; hep-th; hep-ph; gr-qc