Event Details

Cosmology seminar

Abstract: In this talk, I discuss the possible physical consequences of non-Abelian gauge fields in inflation. First, I explain that any SU(N) gauge field can acquire an isotropic and homogeneous VEV at its SU(2) subsector. This isotropic SU(2) gauge field's VEV is the attractor solution against initial anisotropies. Next, I show that this setup has a very rich phenomenology and in particular, leads to new mechanisms for the generation of primordial GWs and fermions in inflation. As a smoking gun, it generically predicts a chiral and non-Gaussian GW background testable by future CMB and laser interferometers. Finally, I present a possible realization of this setup based on embedding axion-inflation in Left-Right symmetric extensions of the SM, i.e. SU(2)_R-axion inflation. In this model, a pure quantum effect, i.e. the chiral anomaly of the SU(2)_R gauge field, provides a common origin for baryogenesis and Right-handed neutrino production.

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