Related papers: Axion Inflation in Type II String Theory
Because the inflationary mechanism is extremely sensitive to UV-physics, the construction of theoretically robust models of inflation provides a unique window on Planck-scale physics. We review efforts to use an axion with a shift symmetry…
We study inflationary potentials in the framework of superstring theories. Successful inflation may occur due to chiral fields, but only after the dilaton and moduli are stabilized. This is achieved by demanding an S-duality invariant…
$SU(2)$ gauge fields can generate large gravitational waves during inflation, if they are coupled to an axion which can be either the inflaton or a spectator field. The shape of the produced tensor power spectrum $\mathcal{P}_h$ depends on…
We present possible realizations of gauge inflation arising from a 5D ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric U(1) model, where the extra dimension is compactified on a circle. A one-loop inflaton effective 4D potential is generated, with the inflaton…
We develop a supersymmetric bi-axion model of high-scale inflation coupled to supergravity, in which the axionic structure originates from, and is protected by, gauge symmetry in an extra dimension. While local supersymmetry (SUSY) is…
We continue the development of axion monodromy inflation, focussing in particular on the backreaction of complex structure moduli. In our setting, the shift symmetry comes from a partial large complex structure limit of the underlying type…
We consider the interactions between Dp-branes intersecting at an arbitrary number of angles in the context of type II string theory. For cosmology purposes we concentrate in the theory on R^{3,1} x T^6. Interpreting the distance between…
In axion gauge field inflation an axion-like particle driving cosmic inflation is coupled to the Chern-Simons density of an Abelian or non-Abelian gauge group. In the case of a non-Abelian gauge group, this can lead to the formation of a…
In the context of Type IIB LARGE volume orientifold setup equipped with poly-instanton corrections, the standard single-field poly-instanton inflation driven by a 'Wilson' divisor volume modulus is generalized by the inclusion of respective…
Models of large-field inflation based on axion-like fields with shift symmetries can be simple and natural, and make a promising prediction of detectable primordial gravitational waves. The Weak Gravity Conjecture is known to constrain the…
We examine how reheating occurs after brane-antibrane inflation in warped geometries, such as those which have recently been considered for Type IIB string vacua. We adopt the standard picture that the energy released by brane annihilation…
The hierarchy of fermion masses in the standard model may arise via the breaking of discrete gauge symmetries. The renormalizable interactions of the flavor-symmetry-breaking potential can have accidental global symmetries that are…
Fibre inflation is a specific string theory construction based on the Large Volume Scenario that produces an inflationary plateau. We outline its relation to $\alpha$-attractor models for inflation, with the cosmological sector originating…
We study higher order corrections in new minimal supergravity models of a single scalar field inflation. The gauging in these models leads to a massive vector multiplet and the D-term potential for the inflaton field with a coupling g^{2} ~…
We study multifield contributions to the scalar power spectrum in an ensemble of six-field inflationary models obtained in string theory. We identify examples in which inflation occurs by chance, near an approximate inflection point, and we…
We study a single field axion inflation model in the presence of an SU(2) gauge field with a small vev. In order to make the analysis as model-independent as possible, we consider an arbitrary potential for the axion that is able to support…
N-flation is a promising embedding of inflation in string theory in which many string axions combine to drive inflation. We characterize the dynamics of a general N-flation model with non-degenerate axion masses. Although the precise mass…
Large field inflation models are favored by the recent BICEP2 that has detected gravitational wave modes generated during inflation. We study general large field inflation models for which the potential contains (constant) quadratic and…
We construct a two-stage inflationary model which can accommodate early inflation at a scale $\Lambda_1$ as well as a second stage of inflation at $\Lambda_2$ with a single scalar field $\phi$. We use a symmetric potential, valid in a…
Inflation, as currently understood, requires the presence of fields with very flat potentials. Supersymmetric models in which supersymmetry breaking is communicated by supergravity naturally yield such fields, but the scales are typically…