English

Singular $\alpha$-attractors

High Energy Physics - Theory 2025-12-25 v2 Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Phenomenology

Abstract

α\alpha-attractor models naturally appear in supergravity with hyperbolic geometry. The simplest versions of α\alpha-attractors, T- and E-models, originate from theories with non-singular potentials. In canonical variables, these potentials have a plateau that is approached exponentially fast at large values of the inflaton field φ\varphi. In a closely related class of polynomial α\alpha-attractors, or P-models, the potential is not singular, but its derivative is singular at the boundary. The resulting inflaton potential also has a plateau, but it is approached polynomially. In this paper, we will consider a more general class of potentials, which can be singular at the boundary of the moduli space, S-models. These potentials may have a short plateau, after which the potential may grow polynomially or exponentially at large values of the inflaton field. We will show that this class of models may provide a simple solution to the initial conditions problem for α\alpha-attractors and may account for a very broad range of possible values of nsn_{s} matching the recent ACT, SPT, and DESI data.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.02969,
  title  = {Singular $\alpha$-attractors},
  author = {Renata Kallosh and Andrei Linde},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.02969},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

25 pages, 9 figures, minor corrections

R2 v1 2026-07-01T08:06:03.855Z