We propose the introduction of a Heisenberg symmetry of the Kahler potential to solve the problems with chaotic inflation in supergravity, as a viable alternative to the use of shift symmetry. The slope of the inflaton potential emerges from a small Heisenberg symmetry breaking term in the superpotential. The modulus field of the Heisenberg symmetry is stabilized and made heavy with the help of the large vacuum energy density during inflation. The observable predictions are indistinguishable from those of typical chaotic inflation models, however the form of the inflationary superpotential considered here may be interpreted in terms of sneutrino inflation arising from certain classes of string theory.
We revisit a polynomial chaotic inflation model in supergravity which we proposed soon after the Planck first data release. Recently some issues have been raised in Ref.[12], concerning the validity of our polynomial chaotic inflation model. We study the inflaton dynamics in detail, and confirm that the inflaton potential is very well approximated by a polynomial potential for the parameters of our interest in any practical sense, and in particular, the spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio can be estimated by single-field approximation. This justifies our analysis of the polynomial ch…
We describe a simple model of chaotic inflation in supergravity where one can easily tune not only the basic cosmological parameters such as n_{s}, r, and f_NL, but also a possible (subdominant) cosmic string contribution to the CMB anisotropy.
We discuss the general structure and observational consequences of some of the simplest versions of chaotic inflation in supergravity in relation to the data by Planck 2013 and BICEP2. We show that minimal modifications to the simplest quadratic potential are sufficient to provide a controllable tensor mode signal and a suppression of CMB power at large angular scales.
Even though the chaotic inflation is one of the most popular inflation models for its simple dynamics and compelling resolutions to the initial condition problems, its realization in supergravity has been considered a challenging task. We discuss how the chaotic inflation dominated by the D-term can be induced in supergravity, which would give a new perspective on the inflation model building in supergravity.
The simple chaotic inflation is highly consistent with the BICEP2 experiment, and no-scale supergravity can be realized naturally in various string compactifications. Thus, we construct a chaotic inflation model in no-scale supergravity inspired from Type IIB string compactification with an anomalous U(1)_X gauged symmetry. We introduce two moduli T_1 and T_2 which transform non-trivially under U(1)_X, and some pairs of fundamental quarks charged under the SU(N) x U(1)_X gauge group. The non-trivial transformations of moduli under U(1)_X lead to a moduli-dependent Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) term. T…
We present a new model of D-term dominated chaotic inflation in supergravity. The F-flat direction present in this model is lifted by the dominant D-term, which leads to chaotic inflation and subsequent reheating. No cosmic string is formed after inflation because the U(1) gauge symmetry is broken during inflation. The leptogenesis scenario via the inflaton decay in our D-term chaotic inflation scenario is also discussed.
I describe the first model of chaotic inflation in supergravity, which was proposed by Goncharov and the present author in 1983. The inflaton potential of this model has a plateau-type behavior $V_{0} (1- {8\over 3}\, e^{-\sqrt 6 |ϕ|})$ at large values of the inflaton field. This model predicts $n_{s} = 1-{2\over N} \approx 0.967$ and $r = {4\over 3 N^{2}} \approx 4 \times 10^{-4}$, in good agreement with the Planck data. I propose a slight generalization of this model, which allows to describe not only inflation but also dark energy and supersymmetry breaking.
We consider the inflationary scenario with non-minimal coupling in 4D Jordan frame supergravity. We find that there occurs a tachyonic instability along the direction of the accompanying non-inflaton field in generic Jordan frame supergravity models. We propose a higher order correction to the Jordan frame function for solving the tachyonic mass problem and show that the necessary correction can be naturally generated by the heavy thresholds without spoiling the slow-roll conditions. We discuss the implication of the result on the Higgs inflation in NMSSM.
Processes of particle production during inflation can increase the amplitude of the scalar metric perturbations. We show that such a mechanism can naturally arise in supergravity models where an axion-like field, whose potential is generated by monodromy, drives large field inflation. In this class of models one generally expects instanton-like corrections to the superpotential. We show, by deriving the equations of motion in models of supergravity with a stabilizer, that such corrections generate an interaction between the inflaton and its superpartner. This inflaton-inflatino interaction ter…
We consider an initial condition problem in a nearly quadratic chaotic inflation model in supergravity. We introduce shift symmetry breaking not only in the superpotential but also in the Kahler potential. In this model the inflaton potential is nearly quadratic for inflaton field values around the Planck scale, but deviates from the quadratic one for larger field values. As a result, the prediction on the tensor-to-scalar ratio can be smaller than that of a purely quadratic model. Due to the shift symmetry breaking in the Kahler potential, the inflaton potential becomes steep for large inflat…
We introduce a new class of models of chaotic inflation inspired by the superconformal approach to supergravity. This class of models allows a functional freedom of choice of the inflaton potential V = |f(ϕ)|^2. The simplest model of this type has a quadratic potential m^2ϕ^2/2. Another model describes an inflaton field with the standard symmetry breaking potential λ^2 (ϕ^2-v^2)^2. Depending on the value of v and on initial conditions for inflation, the spectral index n_s may take any value from 0.97 to 0.93, and the tensor-to-scalar ratio r may span the interval form 0.3 to 0.01. A generalize…
We have constructed a large field N-flation model in the supergravity framework. In this simple set-up, N fields collectively drive inflation where each field traverses sub-Planckian field values. This has been realised with a generalisation of the single field chaotic inflation in Supergravity. Interestingly, despite of the presence of the field interactions, the dynamics can be described in terms of an effective single field. The observable predictions of our model i.e. tensor to scalar ratio r and scalar spectral index n_s are akin to the chaotic inflation.
The bosonic f(R) gravity function is derived from a chiral F(R) supergravity model for the first time. We find an existence of the upper limit (or AdS bound) on the scalar curvature, as well as a solution with a vanishing cosmological constant. We compare our simple model of F(R) supergravity to the well known Starobinsky model of chaotic inflation.
We study various inflation models in the Jordan frame supergravity with a logarithmic Kahler potential. We find that, in a class of inflation models containing an additional singlet in the superpotential, three types of inflation can be realized: the Higgs-type inflation, power-law inflation, and chaotic inflation with/without a running kinetic term. The former two are possible if the holomorphic function dominates over the non-holomorphic one in the frame function, while the chaotic inflation occurs when both are comparable. Interestingly, the fractional-power potential can be realized by the…
We present a common solution to the puzzles of the light Higgs or quark masses and the need for a shift symmetry and large field values in high scale chaotic inflation. One way to protect, for example, the Higgs from a large supersymmetric mass term is if it is the Nambu-Goldstone boson (NGB) of a nonlinear sigma model. However, it is well known that nonlinear sigma models (NLSMs) with nontrivial Kähler transformations are problematic to couple to supergravity. An additional field is necessary to make the Kähler potential of the NLSM invariant in supergravity. This field must have a shift symm…
We propose a chaotic inflation model in supergravity based on polynomial interactions of the inflaton. Specifically we study the chaotic inflation model with quadratic, cubic and quartic couplings in the scalar potential and show that the predicted scalar spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio can lie within the 1 sigma region allowed by the Planck results.
We study the embedding of the quadratic model of chaotic inflation into the 4D, N=1 minimal theories of supergravity by the use of massive vector multiplets and investigate its robustness against higher order corrections. In particular, we investigate the criterion of technical naturalness for the inflaton potential. In the framework of the new-minimal formulation the massive vector multiplet is built in terms of a real linear multiplet coupled to a vector multiplet via the 4D analog of the Green-Schwarz term. This theory gives rise to a single-field quadratic model of chaotic inflation, which…
We argue that there may arise a relatively flat inflaton potential over super-Planckian field values with an approximate shift symmetry, if the coefficients of the kinetic terms for many singlet scalars are subject to a certain random distribution. The inflaton potential generically contains various shift-symmetry breaking terms, leading to a possibly large deviation of the predicted values of the spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio from those of the simple quadratic chaotic inflation. We revisit a polynomial chaotic inflation in supergravity as such.
In this review, we discuss inflation models based on supergravity. After explaining the difficulties in realizing inflation in the context of supergravity, we show how to evade such difficulties. Depending on types of inflation, we give concrete examples, particularly paying attention to chaotic inflation because the ongoing experiments like Planck might detect the tensor perturbations in near future. We also discuss inflation models in Jordan frame supergravity, motivated by Higgs inflation.
We investigate the recently proposed class of chaotic inflation models in supergravity with an arbitrary inflaton potential. These models are extended to include matter fields in the visible sector and we employ a mechanism of SUSY breaking based on a particular phenomenological version of the KKLT mechanism (the KL model). We describe specific features of reheating in this class of models and show how one can solve the cosmological moduli and gravitino problems in this context.
We perform a generalised Scherk-Schwarz reduction of the effective action of the heterotic string on T^6 to obtain a massive N=4 supergravity theory in four dimensions. The local symmetry-group of the resulting d=4 theory includes a Heisenberg group, which is a subgroup of the global O(6,6+n) obtained in the standard reduction. We show explicitly that the same theory can be obtained by gauging this Heisenberg group in d=4, N=4 supergravity.
We briefly review our work on the cascading renormalization group flows for gauge theories on D-branes probing Calabi-Yau singularities. Such RG flows are sometimes chaotic and exhibit duality walls. We construct supergravity solutions dual to logarithmic flows for these theories. We make new observations about a surface of conformal theories and more complicated supergravity solutions.
In F-term supergravity inflation models, scalar fields other than the inflaton generically receive a Hubble induced mass, which may restore gauge symmetries during inflation and phase transitions may occur during or after inflation as the Hubble parameter decreases. We study monopole (and domain wall) production associated with such a phase transition in chaotic inflation in supergravity and obtain a severe constraint on the symmetry breaking scale which is related with the tensor-to-scalar ratio. Depending on model parameters, it is possible that monopoles are sufficiently diluted to be free …
We propose a class of inflation models in which the coefficient of the inflaton kinetic term rapidly changes with energy scale. This may occur especially if the inflaton moves over a long distance during inflation as in the case of large-scale inflation. The peculiar behavior of the kinetic term opens up a new way to construct an inflation model. As a concrete example we construct a linear inflation model in supergravity. It is straightforward to build a chaotic inflation model with a fractional power along the same line. Interestingly, the potential takes a different form after inflation beca…
We show that models of chaotic inflation based on the phi^p potential and a linear non-minimal coupling to gravity, fR=1+cR phi, can be done consistent with data in the context of Supergravity, retaining the perturbative unitarity up to the Planck scale, if we employ logarithmic Kahler potentials with prefactors -p(1+n) or -p(n+1)-1, where -0.035<= n<=0.007 for p=2 or -0.0145<= n<=0.006 for p=4. Focusing, moreover, on a model employing a gauge non-singlet inflaton, we show that a solution to the mu problem of MSSM and baryogenesis via non-thermal leptogensesis can be also accommodated.
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 breaking the shift symmetry using a superpotential which depends not only on the moduli but also on the inflaton field allows one to lift the inflaton flat direction. Along the inflaton direction, the eta-problem is alleviated. Combining the KKLT mechanism for moduli stabilization and a shift symmetry breaking superpotential of the chaotic inflation type, we fin…
A simple model for chaotic inflation in supergravity is proposed. The model is N=1 supersymmetric massive U(1) gauge theory via the Stuckelberg superfield and gives rise to D-term inflation with a quadratic term of inflaton in the potential. The Fayet-Iliopoulos field plays a role of the inflaton.
A model of chaotic inflation based on the theory of a scalar field with potential λϕ^4 perfectly matches the observational data if one adds to it a tiny non-minimal coupling to gravity -ξ/2 ϕ^2 R with ξ> 0.002. We describe embedding of this model into the superconformal theory with spontaneous breaking of superconformal symmetry, and into supergravity. A model with small ξis technically natural: setting the small parameter ξto zero leads to a point of enhanced symmetry in the underlying superconformal theory.
In this note we demonstrate that chaotic inflation can naturally be realized in the context of an anomaly free minimal gauged supergravity in D=6 which has recently been the focus of some attention. This particular model has a unique maximally symmetric ground state solution, $R^{3,1} \times S^2$ which leaves half of the six-dimensional supersymmetries unbroken. In this model, the inflaton field $ϕ$ originates from the complex scalar fields in the D=6 scalar hypermultiplet. The mass and the self couplings of the scalar field are dictated by the D=6 Lagrangian. The scalar potential has an absol…
We find the natural embedding of the (R+R^2)-inflationary model into the recently constructed N=1 F(\cal R)-supergravity. It gives a simple and viable realization of chaotic inflation in supergravity. The only requirement for a slow-roll inflation is the existence of the (\cal R)^3-term with an anomalously large coefficient in Taylor expansion of the F(\cal R) function, where \cal R is the covariantly-chiral scalar supercurvature superfield.
We propose a novel class of F-term hybrid inflation models in supergravity (SUGRA) where the $η$-problem is resolved using either a Heisenberg symmetry or a shift symmetry of the Kaehler potential. In addition to the inflaton and the waterfall field, this class (referred to as tribrid inflation) contains a third 'driving' field which contributes the large vacuum energy during inflation by its F-term. In contrast to the ''standard'' hybrid scenario, it has several attractive features due to the property of vanishing inflationary superpotential (W_inf=0) during inflation. While the symmetries of…
We consider a renormalizable extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model endowed by an R and a gauged B - L symmetry. The model incorporates chaotic inflation driven by a quartic potential, associated with the Higgs field which leads to a spontaneous breaking of U(1)B-L, and yields possibly detectable gravitational waves. We employ semi-logarithmic Kahler potentials with an enhanced symmetry which include only quadratic terms and integer prefactor for the logarithms. An explanation of the mu term of the MSSM is also provided, consistently with the low energy phenomenology, under the…
We propose a chaotic inflation model in which the lightest right-handed sneutrino serves as the inflaton and the predicted values of the spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio are consistent with the Planck data. Interestingly, the observed magnitude of primordial density perturbations is naturally explained by the inflaton mass of order $10^{13}$GeV, which is close to the right-handed neutrino mass scale suggested by the seesaw mechanism and the neutrino oscillation experiments. We find that the agreement of the two scales becomes even better in the neutrino mass anarchy. We show that the …
We consider models of chaotic inflation driven by the real parts of a conjugate pair of Higgs superfields involved in the spontaneous breaking of a grand unification symmetry at a scale assuming its supersymmetric value. We combine a superpotential, which is uniquely determined by applying a continuous R symmetry, with a class of logarithmic or semi-logarithmic Kahler potentials which exhibit a prominent shift-symmetry with a tiny violation, whose strengths are quantified by c- and c+ respectively. The inflationary observables provide an excellent match to the recent BICEP2/Keck Array and Plan…
The magnitude of primordial tensor perturbations reported by the BICEP2 experiment is consistent with simple models of chaotic inflation driven by a single scalar field with a power-law potential \propto ϕ^n: n \simeq 2, in contrast to the WMAP and Planck results, which favored models resembling the Starobinsky R + R^2 model if running of the scalar spectral index could be neglected. While models of inflation with a quadratic potential may be constructed in simple N=1 supergravity, these constructions are more challenging in no-scale supergravity. We discuss here how quadratic inflation can be…
Since the building-blocks of supersymmetric models include chiral superfields containing pairs of effective scalar fields, a two-field approach is particularly appropriate for models of inflation based on supergravity. In this paper, we generalize the two-field analysis of the inflationary power spectrum to supergravity models with arbitrary Kähler potential. We show how two-field effects in the context of no-scale supergravity can alter the model predictions for the scalar spectral index $n_s$ and the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$, yielding results that interpolate between the Planck-friendly St…
We show how we can implement within Supergravity chaotic inflation in the presence of a pole of order one or two in the kinetic mixing of the inflaton sector. This pole arises due to the selected logarithmic Kahler potentials K, which parameterize hyperbolic manifolds with scalar curvature related to the coefficient -N of the logarithmic term. The associated superpotential W exhibits the same R charge with the inflaton-accompanying superfield and includes all the allowed terms. The role of the inflaton can be played by a gauge singlet or non-singlet superfield. Models with one logarithmic term…
We propose a class of models in which the $η$-problem of supersymmetric hybrid inflation is resolved using a Heisenberg symmetry, where the associated modulus field is stabilized and made heavy with the help of the large vacuum energy during inflation without any fine-tuning. The proposed class of models is well motivated both from string theory considerations, since it includes the commonly encountered case of no-scale supergravity Kaehler potential, and from the perspective of particle physics since a natural candidate for the inflaton in this class of models is the right-handed sneutrino wh…
In the lights of current BICEP2 observations accompanied with the PLANCK satellite results, it has been observed that the simple single field chaotic inflationary models provide a good agreement with their spectral index n_s and large tensor-to-scalar ratio r (0.15 <r <0.26). To explore the other simple models, we consider the fractional-chaotic inflationary potentials of the form V_0 phi^(a/b) where a and b are relatively prime. We show that such kind of inflaton potentials can be realized elegantly in the supergravity framework with generalized shift symmetry and a nature bound a/b < 4 for c…
We identify a particularly simple class of supergravity models describing superconformal coupling of matter to supergravity. In these models, which we call the canonical superconformal supergravity (CSS) models, the kinetic terms in the Jordan frame are canonical, and the scalar potential is the same as in the global theory. The pure supergravity part of the total action has a local Poincare supersymmetry, whereas the chiral and vector multiplets coupled to supergravity have a larger local superconformal symmetry. The scale-free globally supersymmetric theories, such as the NMSSM with a scale-…
We point out that supergravity effects enable the inflaton to decay into all matter fields, including the visible and the supersymmetry breaking sectors, once the inflaton acquires a non-vanishing vacuum expectation value. The new decay processes have great impacts on cosmology; the reheating temperature is bounded below; the gravitinos are produced by the inflaton decay in a broad class of the dynamical supersymmetry breaking models. We derive the bounds on the inflaton mass and the vacuum expectation value, which severely constrain high-scale inflations such as the hybrid and chaotic inflati…
The evolution of the quintessence field during a phase of chaotic inflation is studied. The inflaton and the quintesssence field are described in a supergravity framework where the coupling between the inflaton and quintessence is induced by non-renormalisable operators suppressed by the Planck mass. We show that the resulting quintessence potential during inflation possesses a time--dependent minimum playing the role of an attractor. The presence of this attractor forces the quintessence field to be small during inflation. These initial conditions are such that the quintessence field is on tr…
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 potentials within supergravity, particularly of the no-scale type that is motivated by string theory. Models with inflation driven by the matter sector may be constructed in no-scale supergravity, if the moduli are assumed to be stabilised by some higher-scale dynamics and at the expense of some fine-tuning. We discuss specific scenarios for stabilising the modul…
A single field inflation based on a supergravity model with a shift symmetry and $U(1)$ extension of the MSSM is analyzed. We show that one of the real components of the two $U(1)$ charged scalar fields plays the role of inflaton {with} an effective scalar potential similar to the "new chaotic inflation" scenario. Both non-anomalous and anomalous (with Fayet-Iliopoulos term) $U(1)$ are studied. We show that the non-anomalous $U(1)$ scenario is consistent with data of the cosmic microwave background and recent astrophysical measurements. A possible kinetic mixing between $U(1)$ {and} $U(1)_{B-L…
We propose new supergravity models describing chaotic Linde- and Starobinsky-like inflation in terms of a single chiral superfield. The key ideas to obtain a positive vacuum energy during large field inflation are (i) stabilization of the real or imaginary partner of the inflaton by modifying a Kahler potential, and (ii) use of the crossing terms in the scalar potential originating from a polynomial superpotential. Our inflationary models are constructed by starting from the minimal Kahler potential with a shift symmetry, and are extended to the no-scale case. Our methods can be applied to mor…
Large-field inflation is an interesting and predictive scenario. Its non-trivial embedding in supergravity was intensively studied in the recent literature, whereas its interplay with supersymmetry breaking has been less thoroughly investigated. We consider the minimal viable model of chaotic inflation in supergravity containing a stabilizer field, and add a Polonyi field. Furthermore, we study two possible extensions of the minimal setup. We show that there are various constraints: first of all, it is very hard to couple an O'Raifeartaigh sector with the inflaton sector, the simplest viable o…
We consider the ghost-free higher order corrections to the Starobinsky model in the old minimal supergravity. In general, higher order corrections cannot be forbidden by symmetries, which likely violate the flatness of the scalaron potential and makes inflation difficult to explain the present Universe. We find a severe constraint on the dimensionless coupling of the $R^4$ correction as $-5.5 \times 10^{-8}<s<9.1 \times 10^{-8}$ from the recent results of the Planck observation. If we start from the chaotic initial condition, the constraint becomes much severer. However, in the case where the …
Recently there was an extensive discussion of Higgs inflation in the theory with the potential λ(ϕ^2-v^2)^2 and nonminimal coupling to gravity {ξ\over 2}ϕ^2R, for ξ>> 1 and v<< 1. We extend this investigation to the theories m^2ϕ^2 and λ(ϕ^2-v^2)^2 with arbitrary values of ξand v and describe implementation of these models in supergravity. We analyze observational consequences of these models and find a surprising coincidence of the inflationary predictions of the model λ(ϕ^2-v^2)^2 with ξ<0 in the limit |ξ|v^2 \to 1 with the predictions of the Higgs inflation scenario for ξ>> 1.
We demonstrate how to realize within supergravity a novel chaotic-type inflationary scenario driven by the radial parts of a conjugate pair of Higgs superfields causing the spontaneous breaking of a grand unified gauge symmetry at a scale assuming the value of the supersymmetric grand unification scale. The superpotential is uniquely determined at the renormalizable level by the gauge symmetry and a continuous R symmetry. We select two types of Kahler potentials, which respect these symmetries as well as an approximate shift symmetry. In particular, they include in a logarithm a dominant shift…
We consider models of chaotic inflation driven by the real parts of a conjugate pair of Higgs superfields involved in the spontaneous breaking of a grand unification symmetry at a scale assuming its Supersymmetric value. Employing Kaehler potentials with a prominent shift-symmetric part proportional to c- and a tiny violation, proportional to c+, included in a logarithm we show that the inflationary observables provide an excellent match to the recent Planck and Bicep2/Keck Array results setting, e.g., 0.0064<= c+/c-<1/N where N=2 or 3 is the prefactor of the logarithm. Deviations of these pre…
Recently it was found that a broad class of existing inflationary models based on supergravity can be significantly simplified if some of the standard, unconstrained chiral superfields are replaced by nilpotent superfields, associated with Volkov-Akulov supersymmetry. The same method allows to simplify the existing models of uplifting of AdS vacua in string theory. In this paper we will show that one can go well beyond simplifying the models that already exist. We will propose a broad class of new models of chaotic inflation based on supergravity with nilpotent superfields, which simultaneousl…
We elaborate on the predictions of the imaginary Starobinsky model of inflation coupled to matter, where the inflaton is identified with the imaginary part of the inflaton multiplet suggested by the Supergravity embedding of a pure R + R^2 gravity. In particular, we study the impact of higher-order curvature terms and show that, depending on the parameter range, one may find either a quadratic model of chaotic inflation or monomial models of chaotic inflation with fractional powers between 1 and 2.
We consider a renormalizable extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model endowed by an R and a gauged B - L symmetry. The model incorporates chaotic inflation driven by a quartic potential, associated with the Higgs field which leads to a spontaneous breaking of U(1)B-L, and yields possibly detectable gravitational waves. We employ quadratic Kahler potentials with a prominent shift-symmetric part proportional to c- and a tiny violation, proportional to c+, included in a logarithm with prefactor -N<0. It also offers an explanation of mu term of the MSSM provided that one related para…
We assess which Kahler potentials in supergravity lead to viable single-field inflationary models that are consistent with Planck. We highlight the role of symmetries, such as shift, Heisenberg and supersymmetry, in these constructions. Also the connections to string theory are pointed out. Finally, we discuss a supergravity model for arbitrary inflationary potentials that is suitable for open string inflation and generalize it to the case of closed string inflation. Our model includes the recently discussed supergravity reformulation of the Starobinsky model of inflation as well as an interes…
We show that in N=2 supergravity, with a special quaternionic manifold of (quaternionic) dimension h_1+1 and in the presence of h_2 vector multiplets, a h_2+1 dimensional abelian algebra, intersecting the 2h_1+3 dimensional Heisenberg algebra of quaternionic isometries, can be gauged provided the h_2+1 symplectic charge--vectors V_I, have vanishing symplectic invariant scalar product V_I X V_J=0. For compactifications on Calabi--Yau three--folds with Hodge numbers (h_1,h_2) such condition generalizes the half--flatness condition as used in the recent literature. We also discuss non--abelian ex…
We study off-shell rigid limits for the kinetic and scalar-potential terms os a single N=2 hypermultiplet. In the kinetic term, these rigid limits establish relations between four-dimensional quaternion-Kahler and hyper-Kahler target spaces with symmetry. The scalar potential is obtained by gauging the graviphoton along an isometry of the quaternion-Kahler space. The rigid limits unveil two distinct cases. A rigid N=2 theory on Minkowski or on AdS_4 spacetime, depending on whether the isometry is translational or rotational respectively. We apply these results to the quaternion-Kahler space wi…
We review the new theory of modified supergravity, dubbed F(\cal R) supergravity, and some of its recent applications to inflation and reheating in the early universe cosmology. The F(\cal R) supergravity is the N=1 locally supersymmetric extension of the f(R) gravity in four space-time dimensions. A manifestly supersymmetric formulation of the F(\cal R) supergravity exist in terms of N=1 superfields, by using the (old) minimal Poincar'e supergravity in curved superspace. We find the conditions for stability, the absence of ghosts and tachyons. Three models of the F(\cal R) supergravity are st…
We study the emergence of Heisenberg (Bianchi II) algebra in hyper-Kähler and quaternionic spaces. This is motivated by the rôle these spaces with this symmetry play in $\mathcal{N}=2$ hypermultiplet scalar manifolds. We show how to construct related pairs of hyper-Kähler and quaternionic spaces under general symmetry assumptions, the former being a zooming-in limit of the latter at vanishing cosmological constant. We further apply this method for the two hyper-Kähler spaces with Heisenberg algebra, which is reduced to $U(1)\times U(1)$ at the quaternionic level. We also show that no quaternio…
