Higgs cosmology

Abstract

The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 and other results from the Large Hadron Collider have confirmed the standard model of particle physics as the correct theory of elementary particles and their interactions up to energies of several TeV. Remarkably, the theory may even remain valid all the way to the Planck scale of quantum gravity, and therefore it provides a solid theoretical basis for describing the early Universe. Furthermore, the Higgs field itself has unique properties that may have allowed it to play a central role in the evolution of the Universe, from inflation to cosmological phase transitions and the origin of both baryonic and dark matter, and possibly to determine its ultimate fate through the electroweak vacuum instability. These connections between particle physics and cosmology have given rise to a new and growing field of Higgs cosmology, which promises to shed new light on some of the most puzzling questions about the Universe as new data from particle physics experiments and cosmological observations become available. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Higgs cosmology’.

The Higgs Field and Early Universe Cosmology: A (Brief) Review

“…The literature on the Higgs field and cosmology is quite extensive, and this brief review is intended to serve as an introduction to a large and rapidly developing field. (For prior reviews at the intersection of Higgs physics and cosmology, see, e.g., in [23][24][25][26][27][28].) The references provided are intended to be illustrative, but it should be emphasized that they are by no means exhaustive.…”

Production of magnetic monopoles and monopolium in peripheral collisions

“…The possibility of existence of isolated magnetic charges, the magnetic monopoles, have interesting consequences, both in classical and quantum levels [19,20]. Probably, the most important is the Dirac quantization charge relation, which established that, if the magnetic charge exists, then the electric charge is quantized.…”

A Higgs Universe and the flow of time

“…The possible connection of the Higgs field to cosmology is not new, and a collection of articles (based on a workshop) on "Higgs Cosmology" has already been mentioned [Rajante, 2018]. And the decay of the "Mexican Hat" Higgs potential to give new particles and a universe is a common conjecture for the Big Bang birth of the universe [Mukhanov, 2005].…”