Related papers: Towards natural inflation from weakly coupled hete…
We show that under general conditions there is at least one natural inflationary direction for the Kahler moduli of type IIB flux compactifications. This requires a Calabi-Yau which has h^{2,1}>h^{1,1}>2 and for which the structure of the…
In the so-called natural inflation, an axion-like inflaton is assumed to have a cosine-type periodic potential. This is not the case in a very simple model in which the axion-like inflaton is coupled to an SU(N) (or other) pure Yang-Mills,…
We construct a natural inflation model with the inflaton as a linear combination of the fifth components of Abelian gauge fields in a five-dimensional theory. A seesaw mechanism is introduced to provide a natural milli-charge for matter…
The Weak Gravity Conjecture, if valid, rules out simple models of Natural Inflation by restricting their axion decay constant to be sub-Planckian. We revisit stringy attempts to realise Natural Inflation, with a single open string axionic…
We present a perspective on the inflation paths in 2-, 3-,,, N-flation models based on the ultraviolet completion in heterotic string theory, where a number of grand unification scale axions are used. The number of non-Abelian gauge groups…
We propose a new field theory mechanism for generating an effective trans-Planckian decay constant from sub-Planckian ones. Using the minimal two axions and a hierarchy between two axion decay constants is sufficient for realizing inflation…
We study a string theory inspired model for hybrid inflation in the context of a brane-antibrane system partially compactified on a compact submanifold of (a caricature of) a Calabi-Yau manifold. The interbrane distance acts as the…
In this paper we obtain a model of Natural Inflation from string theory with a Planckian decay constant. We investigate D-brane dynamics in the background of the warped resolved conifold (WRC) throat approximation of Type IIB string…
We discuss inflation models within supersymmetry and supergravity frameworks with a landscape of chiral superfields and one $U(1)$ shift symmetry which is broken by non-perturbative symmetry breaking terms in the superpotential. We label…
We present an explicit embedding of axionic N-flation in type IIB string compactifications where most of the Kahler moduli are stabilised by perturbative effects, and so are hierarchically heavier than the corresponding N >> 1 axions whose…
We study general class of small-field axion inflations which are the mixture of polynomial and sinusoidal functions suggested by the natural and axion monodromy inflations. The axion decay constants leading to the successful axion…
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…
If the inflaton is a pseudo-scalar axion, the axion shift symmetry can protect the flatness of its potential from too large radiative corrections. This possibility, known as natural inflation, requires an axion scale which is greater than…
In this paper we argue that the mechanism of unwinding inflation is naturally present in warped compactifications of type IIB string theory with local throats. The unwinding of flux is caused by its annihilation against branes. The…
We discuss some model-independent implications of embedding (aligned) axionic inflation in string theory. As a consequence of string theoretic duality symmetries the pure cosine potentials of natural inflation are replaced by modular…
We initiate a comprehensive survey of axion inflation in compactifications of type IIB string theory on Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in toric varieties. For every threefold with $h^{1,1} \le 4$ in the Kreuzer-Skarke database, we compute the…
Recent models of axion monodromy inflation in string theory link the inflationary potential and the moduli stabilization potential. Realistic inflationary models require mechanisms to moderately suppress the inflaton mass with respect to…
Natural (axionic) inflation can accommodate sizeable primordial tensor modes but suffers from the necessity of trans-Planckian variations of the inflaton field. This problem can be solved via the mechanism of aligned axions…
We investigate whether cosmological inflation is possible in a class of flux compactifications of type IIA strings on rigid Calabi-Yau manifolds, when all perturbative string corrections are taken into account. We confine ourselves to the…
The majority of models of inflation in string theory predict an absence of measurable gravitational waves, r << 10^{-3}. The most promising proposals for making string theoretic models that yield measurable tensor fluctuations involve axion…