Hybrid Inflation and Particle Physics

The prototype hybrid SUSY SU(5) inflation models, while well motivated from particle physics, and while allowing an acceptable inflationary phase with little or no fine tuning, are shown to have two fundamental phenomenological problems. (1) They inevitably result in the wrong vacuum after inflation is over; and (2) they do not solve the monopole problem. In order to get around the first problem the level of complexity of these models must be increased. One can also avoid the second problem in this way. We also demonstate another possibility by proposing a new general mechanism to avoid the monopole problem with, or without inflation.