Alireza Talebian (IPM, Tehran) - Waterfall Symmetry Breaking: A Rich Model for Early Universe Cosmology

Thursday 5 Feb 2026, 13:15 → 14:30 Europe/Stockholm

AlbaNova A5:1041 - CoPS grupprum (AlbaNova Main Building)

Title: Waterfall Symmetry Breaking: A Rich Model for Early Universe Cosmology

Abstract: In this talk, I present a novel early-universe scenario in which a waterfall symmetry breaking occurs during the radiation-dominated era. The vacuum energy of the waterfall field drives a phase of Early Dark Energy, potentially alleviating the Hubble tension. Following the symmetry breaking, dark photons are non-perturbatively generated and acquire mass via the Higgs mechanism, naturally contributing to the dark matter abundance. This rich and dynamical framework offers a unified perspective on the origin of dark matter and the evolution of the early universe. This talk is based on the article: arXiv:2312.08254, published in Phys. Rev. D 109 (2024) 12, 123526.

Place: CoPS room/A5:1041 and Zoom