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Main Authors: Costa, Francesco, Kim, Jinsu
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.10215
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author Costa, Francesco
Kim, Jinsu
author_facet Costa, Francesco
Kim, Jinsu
contents Gravitational production of decoupled scalars during inflationary and post-inflationary phases is efficient and can lead to over-production. We study this production with various reheating scenarios such as a generic power-law inflaton potential $V_{\rm inf}\propto ϕ^k$ as well as a multi-stage reheating scenario. We derive constraints on the scalar self-interaction coupling $λ_s$, the mass $m_s$, and coefficients of quantum gravity-induced operators. We find that the constraints depend sensitively on the reheating dynamics. Our analysis demonstrates that universal gravity effects do not necessarily spoil the predictivity of non-thermal dark matter scenarios with $k < 4$ and low reheating temperatures, as an extended reheating phase dilutes gravitationally-produced relics. For $k > 4$, on the other hand, the relic abundance is enhanced during the reheating phase, leading to stringent constraints on the scalar. In multi-stage reheating, we show that the enhancement/dilution effect of subsequent reheating phases factorises.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_10215
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Gravitational scalar production with a generic reheating scenario
Costa, Francesco
Kim, Jinsu
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Gravitational production of decoupled scalars during inflationary and post-inflationary phases is efficient and can lead to over-production. We study this production with various reheating scenarios such as a generic power-law inflaton potential $V_{\rm inf}\propto ϕ^k$ as well as a multi-stage reheating scenario. We derive constraints on the scalar self-interaction coupling $λ_s$, the mass $m_s$, and coefficients of quantum gravity-induced operators. We find that the constraints depend sensitively on the reheating dynamics. Our analysis demonstrates that universal gravity effects do not necessarily spoil the predictivity of non-thermal dark matter scenarios with $k < 4$ and low reheating temperatures, as an extended reheating phase dilutes gravitationally-produced relics. For $k > 4$, on the other hand, the relic abundance is enhanced during the reheating phase, leading to stringent constraints on the scalar. In multi-stage reheating, we show that the enhancement/dilution effect of subsequent reheating phases factorises.
title Gravitational scalar production with a generic reheating scenario
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.10215