Theory HEP Seminar

Spacetime curvature and the Higgs stability during inflation

Tommi Markkanen

University of Helsinki

It is currently widely accepted that for a high scale of inflation the EW Higgs vacuum is unstable due to large fluctuations of order H. However, this conclusion is reached by neglecting potentially significant effects induced by the spacetime curvature. In this talk I review the derivation of a one-loop SM Higgs effective potential in curved space and discuss its implications. In particular I will show that generally a large curvature mass is generated which can stabilize the potential against fluctuations induced by inflation.