We study the fine-tuning problem on the initial condition of inflation in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), associated with the narrowness of the slow-roll region. We consider two cases before the onset of the MSSM inflation, namely, the radiation dominated era and preceding inflationary era. We find thermal dissipation does not induce additional friction to the inflaton, so that it does not help enlarge the slow-roll region. We argue thermal correction to the potential in the preceding radiation dominated era and quantum fluctuations in the preceding inflationary era disturb field configuration and prevent the MSSM inflation unless some specific preinflation history is realized.
We propose a model of inflation driven by minimal extension of SUSY, commonly known as MSSM. Starting from gauge invariant flat directions in the n = 4 level comprising of QQQL,QuQd,QuLe and uude, we construct the inflaton potential and employ it to investigate for its consequences around the saddle point arising from the non-vanishing fourth derivative of the original potential. To this end, we derive the expressions for the important parameters in MSSM inflation using the loop corrected potential. We further estimate the observable parameters and find them to fit well with recent observation…
A new scenario of hybrid-like inflation is considered for sneutrino and MSSM fields. Contrary to the usual hybrid inflation model, the direct coupling between a trigger field and the sneutrino/MSSM inflaton field is not necessary for the scenario. The dissipation and the radiation from the sneutrino/MSSM inflaton can be written explicitly by using the Yukawa couplings. Remote inflation does not require the shift symmetry or cancellation in solving the eta-problem.
Inflation can occur near a point of inflection in the potential of flat directions of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. In this paper we elaborate on the complementarity between the bounds from Cosmic Microwave Background measurements, dark matter and particle physics phenomenology in determining the underlying parameters of MSSM inflation by specializing to the Minimal Supergravity scenario. We show that the future measurements from the Large Hadron Collider in tandem with all these constraints will significantly restrict the allowed parameter space. We also suggest a new perspective…
We consider a class of models in which minimal gauged F-term hybrid inflation is coupled renormalisably to the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), with no extra ingredients; we call this class the "minimal hybrid inflationary supersymmetric standard model" (MHISSM). The singlet inflaton supplies the Higgs mu-term, and allows an exit from inflation to a vacuum characterised by large Higgs vevs. The true ground state is reached after an period of thermal inflation along the Higgs flat direction. The scalar spectral index is reduced from the standard F-term value, to approximately 0.976…
We explored a Higgs inflationary scenario in the SUGRA embedding of the MSSM in Einstein frame where the inflaton is contained in the $SU(2)$ Higgs doublet. We include all higher order non-renormalizable terms to the MSSM superpotential and an appropriate Kähler potential which can provide slow-roll inflaton potential in the $D-$flat direction. In this model, a plateau-like inflation potential can be obtained if the imaginary part of the neutral Higgs acts as the inflaton. The inflationary predictions of this model are consistent with the latest CMB observations. The model represents a success…
Within the MSSM we propose the chaotic inflationary scenario in which the inflaton field is a combination of sleptons and the Higgs field states evolving along the $D$-term flat direction. In the inflation and postinflation reheating processes, a decisive role is played by the MSSM Yukawa superpotential. The vacuum energy during the inflationary era is mainly from the muonic Yukawa coupling, while the inflaton decay and subsequent reheating process dominantly proceeds due to the strange quark Yukawa term. Because of these, the presented scenario is predictive and the results obtained agree wel…
Adopting a recently proposed single-superfield framework of supergravity inflation, we consider large field inflationary models in which MSSM Higgs-like fields play the role of the inflaton. In the simplest cases, the inflaton potential has a fractional power, which is different from that of the original Higgs inflation, and it can be tested by cosmological observations in near future. We find difficulties in identifying the inflaton with the MSSM Higgses and discuss possible candidates of the inflaton.
In this paper we will analyze generic predictions of an inflection-point model of inflation with Hubble-induced corrections and study them in light of the Planck data. Typically inflection-point models of inflation can be embedded within Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) where inflation can occur below the Planck scale. The flexibility of the potential allows us to match the observed amplitude of the TT-power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation with low and high multipoles, spectral tilt, and virtually mild running of the spectral tilt, which can put a bound on an …
We consider the possibility that the vacuum energy density of the MSSM (Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model) flat direction condensate involving the Higgses H_1 and H_2 is responsible for inflation. We also discuss how the finely tuned Higgs potential at high vacuum expectation values can realize {\it cosmologically} flat direction along which it can generate the observed density perturbations, and after the end of inflation -- the coherent oscillations of the Higgses reheat the universe with all the observed degrees of freedom, without causing any problem for the electroweak phase transitio…
Inflationary scenarios motivated by the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) where five scalar fields are non-minimally coupled to gravity are considered. The potential of the model and the function of non-minimal coupling are polynomials of two Higgs doublet convolutions. We show that the use of the strong coupling approximation allows to obtain inflationary parameters in the case when a combination of the four scalar fields plays a role of inflaton. Numerical calculations show that the cosmological evolution leads to inflationary scenarios fully compatible with observational data for…
The inflation within the MSSM is proposed, where the inflaton field is a combination of the Higgs, squark and slepton states. While the inflationary phase is fully governed by the electron Yukawa superpotential coupling, the fields' condensates float along the flat $D$-term trajectory. This predicts the MSSM parameter $\tan β\simeq 13.1$ determined via the value of the curvature perturbation amplitude. The values of the scalar spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio are predicted to be $n_s\simeq 0.966$ and $r=0.00118$. The postinflation reheating of the Universe proceeds by the radiativ…
A novel realization of the Starobinsky inflationary model within a moderate extension of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is presented. The proposed superpotential is uniquely determined by applying a continuous R and a Z_2 discrete symmetry, whereas the Kahler potential respects a no-scale-type SU(54,1)/SU(54)x U(1)_R x Z_2 symmetry too. The inflaton is identified with a Higgs-like modulus whose the vacuum expectation value controls the gravitational strength. Thanks to a strong enough coupling (with a parameter cT involved) between the inflaton and the Ricci scalar curvature,…
Inflation with plateau potentials give the best fit to the CMB observables as they predict tensor to scalar ratio stringently bounded by the observations from Planck and BICEP2/Keck. In supergravity models it is possible to obtain plateau potentials for scalar fields in the Einstein frame which can serve as the inflation potential by considering higher dimensional Planck suppressed operators and by the choice of non-canonical Kähler potentials. We construct a plateau inflation model in MSSM where the inflation occurs along a sneutrino-Higgs flat direction. A hidden sector Polonyi field is used…
We discuss the constraints on the inhomogeneous reheating scenario. In particular, we discuss the prospects for low scale inflation with a Hubble constant of the order of the gravitino mass, and the possibility that an MSSM flat direction is responsible for the density fluctuations. Thermal effects are generically fatal for the scenario, and can only be avoided for small enough mass and couplings of the flat direction field, excluding MSSM flat directions. Prompt decay at the end of inflation bypasses thermal constraints, and is compatible with both low scale inflation and MSSM flat directions…
Variants of the $A$-term model of hep-ph/0605035 are considered. They are equally successful, indicating that the model is quite robust once the relation between $A$ and the soft mass is regarded as tunable. Alternatively a flat direction might support modular inflation.
The cosmological evolution of the string landscape is expected to consist of multiple stages of old inflation with large cosmological constant ending by tunnelling. Old inflation has a well known graceful exit problem as the observable universe becomes empty, devoid of any entropy. Simultaneously, in the quest for reheating the right degrees of freedom, it is important that the final stage of inflation reheat Standard Model sector. It is known that inflation can occur naturally along a flat direction of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), solving the reheating problem, but the in…
Non-perturbative preheating decay of post-inflationary condensates often results in a high density, low momenta, non-thermal gas. In the case where the non-perturbative classical evolution also leads to Q-balls, this effect shields them from instant dissociation, and may radically change the thermal history of the universe. For example, in a large class of inflationary scenarios, motivated by the MSSM and its embedding in string theory, the reheat temperature changes by a multiplicative factor of $10^{12}$.
Motivated by a recent discussion about the role of flat directions, a typical feature of supersymmetric models, in the process of particle production in the early universe a consistent model of inflation and preheating in supergravity with MSSM fields has been built. It is based on a model proposed by M. Kawasaki, M. Yamaguchi and T. Yanagida. In the inflationary stage, the flat directions acquire large vacuum expectation values (VEVs) without spoiling the background of slow-roll, high-scale inflation consistent with the latest WMAP5 observational data. In the stage of particle production, nat…
A {\it gauge invariant} combination of LLe {\it sleptons} within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model is one of the few inflaton candidates that can naturally explain population of the observable sector and creation of matter after inflation. After the end of inflation, the inflaton oscillates coherently about the minimum of its potential, which is a point of {\it enhanced gauged symmetry}. This results in bursts of non-perturbative production of the gauge/gaugino and (s)lepton quanta. The subsequent decay of these quanta is very fast and leads to an extremely efficient transfer of the in…
We argue that all necessary ingredients for successful inflation are present in the flat directions of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM). Out of many gauge invariant combinations of the squarks, sleptons and Higgses, there are two flat directions, ${\bf LLe}$, and ${\bf udd}$, which are promising candidates for the inflaton. The model predicts more than $10^3$ e-foldings with an inflationary scale of $H_{\rm inf} \sim {\cal O}(1-10)$ GeV, provides a tilted spectrum $0.92 \leq n_s \leq 1$ with an amplitude of $δ_H \sim 10^{-5}$ and a negligible tensor perturbations. It yields a l…
We consider the supergravity origin of the recently proposed MSSM inflationary model, which relies on the existence of a saddle point along a dimension six flat direction. We derive the conditions that the Kahler potential has to satisfy for the saddle point to exist irrespective of the hidden sector vevs. We show that these conditions are satisfied by a simple class of Kahler potentials, which we find to have a similar form as in various string theory compactifications. For these potentials, slow roll MSSM inflation requires no fine tuning of the soft supersymmetry breaking parameters.
Supersymmetric theories, including the minimal supersymmetric standard model, usually contain many scalar fields whose potentials are absent in the exact supersymmetric limit and within the renormalizable level. Since their potentials are vulnerable to the finite energy density of the Universe through supergravity effects, these flat directions have nontrivial dynamics in the early Universe. Recently, we have pointed out that a flat direction may have a positive Hubble induced mass term during inflation whereas a negative one after inflation. In this case, the flat direction stays at the origi…
The parameter space for A-term inflation is explored with $W=λ_p ϕ^p/(p M_P^{p-3})$. With p=6 and λ_p~1, the observed spectrum and spectral tilt can be obtained with soft mass of order 10^2 GeV but not with a much higher mass. The case p=3 requires λ_p~10^{-9} to 10^{-12}. The ratio m/A requires fine-tuning, which may be justified on environmental grounds. An extension of the MSSM to include non-renormalizable terms and/or Dirac neutrino masses might support either A-term inflation or modular inflation.
Despite the fact that experimentally with a high degree of statistical significance only a single Standard Model--like Higgs boson is discovered at the LHC, extended Higgs sectors with multiple scalar fields not excluded by combined fits of the data are more preferable theoretically for internally consistent realistic models of particle physics. We analyze the inflationary scenarios which could be induced by the two-Higgs doublet potential of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) where five scalar fields have nonminimal couplings to gravity. Observables following from such MSSM-insp…
The flat directions LLe and udd within the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model provide all the necessary ingredients for a successful inflation with the right amplitude of the scalar density perturbations, negligible gravity waves and the spectral tilt within 2σobserved range 0.92 \leq n_s \leq 1.0. In this paper we explore the available parameter space for inflation in conjunction with a thermal cold dark matter abundance within the minimal supergravity model. Remarkably for the inflaton, which is a combination of squarks and sleptons, there is a stau-neutralino coannihilation region below …
We consider instant preheating as the mechanism for generating the curvature perturbation at the end of chaotic inflation. Then we examine if inflation could be driven by a Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) flat direction or a sneutrino. Our simple mechanism relaxes some serious constraints that appeared in past studies, making inflation driven by a MSSM flat direction or a sneutrino more plausible.
It has been recently pointed out that the polarization BICEP2 results are consistent with the identification of an inflaton mass m \simeq 10^{13} GeV with the SUSY breaking scale in an MSSM with a fine-tuned SM Higgs. This identification leads to a Higgs mass m_h \simeq 126 GeV, consistent with LHC measurements. Here we propose that this naturally suggests to identify the inflaton with the heavy MSSM Higgs system. The fact that the extrapolated Higgs coupling lambda_{SM}\simeq 0 at scales below the Planck scale suggests the Higgs degrees of freedom could be associated to a Wilson line or D-bra…
In the framework of MSSM inflation, matter and gravitino production are here investigated through the decay of the fields which are coupled to the udd inflaton, a gauge invariant combination of squarks. After the end of inflation, the flat direction oscillates about the minimum of its potential, losing at each oscillation about 56% of its energy into bursts of gauge/gaugino and scalar quanta when crossing the origin. These particles then acquire a large inflaton VEV-induced mass and decay perturbatively into the MSSM quanta and gravitinos, transferring the inflaton energy very efficiently via …
We investigate supersymmetric hybrid inflation in a realistic model based on the gauge symmetry $SU(4)_c \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R$. The minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) $μ$ term arises, following Dvali, Lazarides, and Shafi, from the coupling of the MSSM electroweak doublets to a gauge singlet superfield which plays an essential role in inflation. The primordial monopoles are inflated away by arranging that the $SU(4)_c \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R$ symmetry is broken along the inflationary trajectory. The interplay between the (above) $μ$ coupling, the gravitino mass, and th…
We consider $μ$-term hybrid inflation which, in its minimal format with gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking, leads to split supersymmetry. The MSSM $μ$-term in this framework is larger than the gravitino mass $m_G$, and successful inflation requires $m_G$ (and hence also $|μ|$) $\gtrsim 5 \times 10^7$ GeV, such that the gravitino decays before the LSP neutralino freezes out. Assuming universal scalar masses of the same order as $m_G$, this leads to split supersymmetry. The LSP wino with mass $\simeq$ 2 TeV is a plausible dark matter candidate, the gluino may be accessible at the LHC, and t…
Modular cosmology is plagued by overproduction of unwanted relics, gravitinos and especially moduli, at relatively low energy scales. Thermal inflation provides a compelling solution to this moduli problem, but invalidates most baryogenesis scenarios. We propose a simple model in which the MSSM plus neutrino mass term $(LH_u)^2$ is supplemented by a minimal flaton sector to drive the thermal inflation, and make two crucial assumptions: the flaton vacuum expectation value generates the $μ$-term of the MSSM and $m_L^2 + m_{H_u}^2 < 0$. The second assumption is particularly interesting in that it…
We discuss constraints on which flat directions can have large vacuum expectation values (VEVs) after inflation. We show that only flat directions which are not charged under B-L and develop positive pressure due to renormalization group effects can have large VEVs of order $\Mp$. For example, within the MSSM only the $H_uH_d$ flat direction is found to be viable. This strongly constrains the embedding of a broad class of inflationary models in the MSSM or some other supersymmetric extension of the SM. For flat directions with negative pressure, the condensate fragments into very large Q-balls…
The Minimal Supersymmetry Standard Model contains several hundreds of D- and F-flat directions that are lifted by soft susy breaking terms as well as by non-renormalizable terms. In a recent paper we find that only two of these directions, {\bf LLe} and {\bf udd} can accommodate inflation. The model predicts more than $10^3$ e-foldings with an inflationary scale of $H_{\rm inf}\sim 1$ GeV, provides a tilted spectrum compatible with WMAP3, and a negligible tensor perturbation. The reheating temperature could be as low as $T_{rh}\sim 1$ TeV. The model is stable under radiative as well as supergr…
We consider low scale slow roll inflation driven by the gauge invariant flat directions {\bf udd} and {\bf LLe} of the Minimally Supersymmetric Standard Model at the vicinity of a saddle point of the scalar potential. We study the stability of saddle point and the slow roll regime by considering radiative and supergravity corrections. The latter are found to be harmless, but the former require a modest finetuning of the saddle point condition. We show that while the inflaton decays almost instantly, full thermalization occurs late, typically at a temperature $T\approx 10^{7}$ GeV, so that ther…
One interpretation of proton stability is the existence of extra-flat directions of the MSSM, in particular $u^{c}u^{c}d^{c}e^{c}$ and $QQQL$, where the operators lifting the potential are suppressed by a mass scale $Λ$ which is much larger than the Planck mass, $ Λ\gae 10^{26} \GeV$. Using D-term hybrid inflation as an example, we show that such flat directions can serve as the inflaton in SUSY inflation models. The resulting model is a minimal version of D-term inflation which requires the smallest number of additional fields. In the case where $Q$-balls form from the extra-flat direction co…
We study a $D$-term inflation scenario in a model extended from the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) by two additional abelian factor groups focussing on its particle physics aspects. Condensates of the fields related to the inflation can naturally give a possible solution to both the $μ$-problem in the MSSM and the neutrino mass through their nonrenormalizable couplings to the MSSM fields. Mixings between neutrinos and neutralinos are also induced by some of these condensates. Small neutrino masses are generated by a weak scale seesaw mechanism as a result of these mixings. Moreov…
We perform a model-independent analysis of the spontaneously broken phase of an $SU(2)\times U(1)$ supersymmetric gauge theory, by using a non-linear parametrization of the Goldstone sector of the theory. The non-linear variables correspond to an $SL(2,C)$ superfield matrix in terms of which a non-linear Lagrangian can be constructed, and the pattern of supersymmetry breaking investigated. The supersymmetric order parameter is the V.E.V. of the neutral pseudo-Goldstone boson. Some applications of this technique are considered, in relation to the minimal supersymmetric standard model, and to de…
There is strong evidence from cosmological data that the universe underwent an epoch of superluminal expansion called inflation. A satisfactory embedding of inflation in fundamental physics has been an outstanding problem at the interface of cosmology and high energy physics. We show how inflation can be realized within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The inflaton candidates are two specific combinations of supersymmetric partners of quarks and leptons. MSSM inflation occurs at a low scale and generates perturbations in the range experimentally allowed by the latest data from…
We show that MSSM with three right handed neutrinos incorporating a renormalizable Type-I seesaw superpotential and no-scale SURGA Kähler potential can lead to a Starobinsky kind of inflation potential along a flat direction associated with gauge invariant combination of Higgs, slepton and right handed sneutrino superfields. The inflation conditions put constraints on the Dirac Yukawa coupling and the Majorana masses required for the neutrino masses and also demands the tuning among the parameters. The scale of inflation is set by the mass of the heaviest right handed neutrino. We also fit the…
Many models of high energy physics possess metastable vacua. It is conceivable that the universe can get trapped in such a false vacuum, irrespective of its origin and prior history, at an earlier stage during its evolution. The ensuing false vacuum inflation results in a cold and empty universe and has a generic graceful exit problem. We show that an inflection point inflation along the flat directions of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) can resolve this graceful exit problem by inflating the bubble which nucleate out of a false vacuum. The important point is that the initial …
We consider the possibility that the dark energy responsible for inflation is deposited into extra dimensions outside of our observable universe. Reheating and all matter can then be obtained from the MSSM flat direction condensate involving the Higgses $H_u$ and $H_d$, which acquires large amplitude by virtue of quantum fluctuations during inflation. The reheat temperature is $T_{RH} \lesssim 10^9$ GeV so that there is no gravitino problem. We find a spectral index $n_s\approx 1$ with a very weak dependence on the Higgs potential.
We consider a phenomenological extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) which incorporates non-minimal chaotic inflation, driven by a quadratic potential in conjunction with a linear term in the frame function. Inflation is followed by a Peccei-Quinn phase transition, based on renormalizable superpotential terms, which resolves the strong CP and mu problems of MSSM and provide masses lower than about 10^12 GeV for the right-handed (RH) (s)neutrinos. Baryogenesis occurs via non-thermal leptogenesis, realized by the out-of-equilibrium decay of the RH sneutrinos which are pro…
We consider observational constraints and fine-tuning issues in a renormalizable model of inflection point inflation, with two independent parameters. We derive constraints on the parameter space of this model arising from the WMAP 7-year power spectrum. It has previously been shown that it is possible to successfully embed this potential in the MSSM. Unfortunately, to do this requires severe fine-tuning. We address this issue by introducing a hybrid field to dynamically uplift the potential with a subsequent smooth phase transition to end inflation at the necessary point. Large parameter regi…
Using F-theory we construct 4D ${\cal N}=1$ SUGRA theories with the Standard Model gauge group, three chiral generations, and matter parity in order to forbid all dimension four baryon and lepton number violating operators. The underlying geometries are derived by constructing smooth genus-one fibered Calabi--Yau fourfolds using toric tops that have a Jacobian fibration with rank one Mordell--Weil group and $SU(3) \times SU(2) $ singularities. The necessary gauge backgrounds on the smooth fourfolds are shown to be fully compatible with the quantization condition, including positive integer D3-…
Following \cite{Lin:2009yt}, we explore the parameter space of the case when the supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking scale is lower, for example, in gauge mediated SUSY breaking model. During inflation, the form of the potential is $V_0$ plus MSSM (MSSM stands for Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model) (or A term (It is called A-term inflation when the inflaton field is any direction (gauge or singlet) that generates an A-term.)) inflation. We show that the model works for a wide range of the potential $V_0$ with the soft SUSY breaking mass $m\sim O(1)$ TeV. The implication to MSSM (or A-term) infla…
We review the realization of Starobinsky-type inflation within induced-gravity Supersymmetric (SUSY) and non-SUSY models. In both cases, inflation is in agreement with the current data and can be attained for subplanckian values of the inflaton. The corresponding effective theories retain perturbative unitarity up to the Planck scale and the inflaton mass is predicted to be 3x10^13 GeV. The supergravity embedding of these models is achieved by employing two gauge singlet chiral supefields, a superpotential that is uniquely determined by a continuous R and a discrete Zn symmetry, and several (s…
Shifted Hybrid Realization of Non-Minimal Higgs Inflation in Light of ACT DR6 and Planck Data
Università degli Studi di Padova(帕多瓦大学);INFN, Sezione di Padova(意大利国家核物理研究所帕多瓦分部);CAS Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院理论物理研究所理论物理重点实验室);School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院大学物理科学学院);Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Islamic University of Madinah(麦地那伊斯兰大学理学院物理系)
We present a model of power law inflation generated by variation of the strong coupling constant. We then extend the model to two varying coupling constants which leads to a potential consisting of a linear combination of exponential terms. Some variants of the latter may be self-consistent and can accommodate the experimental data of the Planck 2015 and other recent experiments.
Curvaton is an effectively massless field whose energy density during inflation is negligible but which later becomes dominant. This is a novel mechanism to generate the scale invariant perturbations. I discuss the possibility that the curvaton could be found among the fields of the minimally supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), which contains a number of flat directions along which the renormalizable potential vanishes. The requirements of late domination and the absence of damping of the perturbations pick out essentially a unique candidate for the MSSM curvaton. One must also require that …
We suggest a simple algebraic approach to fix the elements of the $\{ β\}$-expansion for renormalization group invariant quantities, which uses additional degrees of freedom. The approach is discussed in detail for N$^2$LO calculations in QCD with the MSSM gluino -- an additional degree of freedom. We derive the formulae of the $\{ β\}$-expansion for the nonsinglet Adler $D$-function and Bjorken polarized sum rules in the actual N$^3$LO within this quantum field theory scheme with the MSSM gluino and the scheme with the second additional degree of freedom. We discuss the properties of the $\{ …
We consider warm inflation with a Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) kinetic term in which both the nonequilibrium dissipative particle production and the sound speed parameter slow the motion of the inflaton field. We find that a low sound speed parameter removes, or at least strongly suppresses, the growing function appearing in the scalar of curvature power spectrum of warm inflation, which appears due to the temperature dependence in the dissipation coefficient. As a consequence of that, a low sound speed helps to push warm inflation into the strong dissipation regime, which is an attractive regime f…
We propose that inflation is driven by a (complex) neutral Higgs of the MSSM extension of the SM, in a chaotic-like inflation setting. The SUSY breaking soft term masses are of order $10^{12}-10^{13}$ GeV, which is identified with the inflaton mass scale and is just enough to stabilise the SM Higgs potential. The fine-tuned SM Higgs has then a mass around 126 GeV, in agreement with LHC results. We point out that the required large field excursions of chaotic inflation may be realised in string theory with the (complex) inflaton/Higgs identified with a continuous Wilson line or D-brane position…
We present viable F-term realizations of the hybrid inflationary scenario in the context of supergravity addressing at the same time the well-known problems of the initial conditions and of the adequate suppression of the inflaton mass. An essential role in our construction is played by "decoupled" superheavy fields without superpotential acquiring large vevs due to D-terms associated with "anomalous" U(1) gauge symmetries. The naturalness of the initial conditions is achieved through a "chaotic" inflation starting at energies close to the Planck scale and driven by the "anomalous" D-terms. We…