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Higgs-modular inflation

Shuntaro Aoki1,*, Hajime Otsuka2,†, and Ryota Yanagita2,‡

  • 1RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theortical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS), Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
  • 2Department of Physics, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan

  • *Contact author: shuntaro.aoki@riken.jp
  • †Contact author: otsuka.hajime@phys.kyushu-u.ac.jp
  • ‡Contact author: ryota.692@s.kyushu-u.ac.jp
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Phys. Rev. D 112, 043505 – Published 4 August, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/v4z9-676d

Abstract

We investigate the role of the Higgs field as a fundamental scalar in the Standard Model within the framework of modular inflation models, where a modulus field acts as the inflaton and its interactions are governed by an underlying modular symmetry. In general, the Higgs field can participate in the dynamics of modular inflation, leading to a two-field inflationary system—termed Higgs-Modular inflation—which exhibits nontrivial dynamics and interesting phenomenological implications. We analyze Higgs-Modular inflation both analytically and numerically, highlighting its attractor behavior and the resulting observational constraints. In particular, we find that Higgs-Modular inflation is favored by the latest data release from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in certain regions of parameter space. This is in contrast to both pure Higgs inflation and pure modular inflation with a Starobinsky-type potential, which tend to predict a relatively low spectral index. Additionally, we discuss the cutoff scale of this inflationary model and the reheating processes induced by the decays of the modulus and the Higgs field.

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Information

Phys. Rev. D 112, 043505– Published 4 August, 2025
  • Received 27 May 2025
  • Accepted 9 July 2025
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