Magnetic anti–de Sitter wormholes as seeds for Higgs inflation

Abstract

We show how certain types of magnetic asymptotically anti–de Sitter Euclidean wormholes can catalyze the onset of inflation. These wormholes can be embedded as saddle point solutions of general relativity coupled to the Standard Model, the inflaton being identified with the Higgs particle. Our scenario is based on the assumption that the quantum effective potential for the Higgs turns negative at a certain high energy window, in line with current measured values for the Higgs and top quark masses. Within our proposal, we can estimate various parameters and physical quantities of interest, in consistency with current observational bounds. Published by the American Physical Society 2025