Feebly interacting dark matter particle as the inflaton

We present a scenario where a Z(2)-symmetric scalar field phi first drives cosmic inflation, then reheats the Universe but remains out-of-equilibrium itself, and finally comprises the observed dark matter abundance, produced by particle decays a a la freeze-in mechanism. We work model-independently without specifying the interactions of the scalar field besides its self-interaction coupling, lambda phi(4), non-minimal coupling to gravity, xi phi R-2, and coupling to another scalar field, g phi(2)sigma(2). We find the scalar field phi serves both as the inflaton and a dark matter candidate if 10(-9) less than or similar to lambda less than or similar to g less than or similar to 10(-7) and 3 keV less than or similar to m(phi) less than or similar to 85 MeV for xi = O (1). Such a small value of the non-minimal coupling is also found to be of the right magnitude to produce the observed curvature perturbation amplitude within the scenario. We also discuss how the model may be distinguished from other inflationary models of the same type by the next generation CMB satellites.