Reheating predictions in Gravity Theories with Derivative Coupling (1608.04543v2)

Abstract: We investigate the inflationary predictions of a simple Horndeski theory where the inflaton scalar field has a non-minimal derivative coupling (NMDC) to the Einstein tensor. The NMDC is very motivated for the construction of successful models for inflation, nevertheless its inflationary predictions are not observationally distinct. We show that it is possible to probe the effects of the NMDC on the CMB observables by taking into account both the dynamics of the inflationary slow-roll phase and the subsequent reheating. We perform a comparative study between representative inflationary models with canonical fields minimally coupled to gravity and models with NMDC. We find that the inflation models with dominant NMDC generically predict a higher reheating temperature and a different range for the tilt of the scalar perturbation spectrum $n_s$ and scalar-to-tensor ratio $r$, potentially testable by current and future CMB experiments.