Dark photon dark matter from charged inflaton

We present a scenario of vector dark matter production during inflation containing a complex inflaton field which is charged under a dark gauge field and which has a symmetry breaking potential. As the inflaton field rolls towards the global minimum of the potential the dark photons become massive with a mass which can be larger than the Hubble scale during inflation. The accumulated energy of the quantum fluctuations of the produced dark photons gives the observed relic density of the dark matter for a wide range of parameters. Depending on the parameters, either the transverse modes or the longitudinal mode or their combination can generate the observed dark matter relic energy density.

Automated summary

The model introduces a scenario of vector dark matter production during inflation, where the quantum fluctuations of the inflaton field energy are used to explain the observed relic density of dark matter, which can be applicable to a wide range of parameters.