Related papers: The Powers of Monodromy
We consider a possibility that one of the flat directions in the minimal supersymmetric standard model plays the role of the inflaton field and realizes large-field inflation. This is achieved by introducing a generalized shift symmetry on…
Equipped with concrete examples of Type IIB orientifolds featuring poly-instanton corrections to the superpotential, the effects on moduli stabilization and inflationary cosmology are analyzed. Working in the framework of the LARGE volume…
We investigate the possibility that spiral inflation can be realized using the near-conifold flux potentials for the complex structure moduli in type IIB string theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold. Using the explicit form of the…
N-flation is a radiatively stable scenario for chaotic inflation in which the displacements of $N \gg 1$ axions with decay constants $f_1 \le \ldots \le f_N < M_P$ lead to a super-Planckian effective displacement equal to the Pythagorean…
We propose a new inflationary scenario in type IIB Calabi-Yau compactifications, where the inflaton is a K\"ahler modulus parameterising the volume of an internal four-cycle. The inflaton potential is generated via poly-instanton…
Compactifying M-theory on a manifold of $G_2$ holonomy gives a UV complete 4D theory. It is supersymmetric, with soft supersymmetry breaking via gaugino condensation that simultaneously stabilizes all moduli and generates a hierarchy…
Motivated by the possibility of inflation in the cosmic landscape, which may be approximated by a complicated potential, we study the density perturbations in multi-field inflation with a random potential. The random potential causes the…
In this work we explore the effects that a possible primordial magnetic field can have on the inflaton effective potential, taking as the underlying model a warm inflation scenario, based on global supersymmetry with a new-inflation-type…
Non-abelian discrete gauge symmetries can provide the inflaton with a flat potential even when one takes into account gravitational strength effects. The discreteness of the symmetries also provide special field values where inflation can…
Trapped inflation is a mechanism in which particle production from the moving inflaton is the main source of friction in the inflaton equation of motion. The produced fields source inflaton perturbations, which dominate over the vacuum…
The three-year data from WMAP are in stunning agreement with the simplest possible quadratic potential for chaotic inflation, as well as with new or symmetry-breaking inflation. We investigate the possibilities for incorporating these…
A long period of inflation can be triggered when the inflaton is held up on the top of a steep potential by the infrared end of a warped space. We first study the field theory description of such a model. We then embed it in the flux…
We consider models of inflation in supergravity with a shift symmetry. We focus on models with one moduli and one inflaton field. The presence of this symmetry guarantees the existence of a flat direction for the inflaton field. Mildly…
We embed natural inflation in an explict string theory model and derive observables in cosmology. We achieve this by compactifying the type IIB string on a Calabi-Yau orientifold, stabilizing moduli via the Large Volume Scenario, and…
We clarify inflaton models by considering them as effective field theories in the Ginzburg-Landau spirit.In this new approach, the precise form of the inflationary potential is constructed from the present WMAP data, and a useful scheme is…
The "central" region of moduli space of M- and string theories is where the string coupling is about unity and the volume of compact dimensions is about the string volume. Here we argue that in this region the non-perturbative potential…
We obtain cosmological constraints on models of inflation which exhibit rapid roll solutions. Rapid roll attractors exist for potentials with large mass terms and are thus of interest for inflationary model building within string theory. We…
We describe a class of 4d N=1 compactifications of the $SO(32)$ heterotic/type I string theory which are destabilized by nonperturbatively generated superpotentials. In the type I description, the destabilizing superpotential is generated…
Potentials in cosmological inflation often involve scalars with trans-Planckian ranges. As a result, towers of states become massless and their presence pushes the fundamental scale not to coincide with $M_{\rm P}$ but rather with the…
We study compactifications of type IIA string theory on Calabi-Yau manifolds that are mirror to a subset of the type IIB LARGE-volume models. A combination of flux, alpha' corrections and non-perturbative effects stabilises the moduli in a…