The aim of this paper is to highlight the challenges and potential gains surrounding a coherent description of physics from the high-energy scales of inflation down to the lower energy scales probed in particle-physics experiments. As an example, we revisit the way inflation can be realised within an effective Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (eMSSM), in which the $LLe$ and $udd$ flat directions are lifted by the combined effect of soft-supersymmetric-breaking masses already present in the MSSM, together with the addition of effective non-renormalizable operators. We clarify some features of the model and address the question of the one-loop Renormalization Group improvement of the inflationary potential, discussing its impact on the fine-tuning of the model. We also compare the parameter space that is compatible with current observations (in particular the amplitude, $A_{\scriptscriptstyle{\mathrm{S}}}$, and the spectral index, $n_{\scriptscriptstyle{\mathrm{S}}}$, of the primordial cosmological fluctuations) at tree level and at one loop, and discuss the role of reheating. Finally we perform combined fits of particle and cosmological observables (mainly $A_{\scriptscriptstyle{\mathrm{S}}}$, $n_{\scriptscriptstyle{\mathrm{S}}}$, the Higgs mass, and the cold-dark-matter energy density) with the one-loop inflationary potential applied to some examples of dark-matter annihilation channels (Higgs-funnel, Higgsinos and A-funnel), and discuss the status of the ensuing MSSM spectra with respect to the LHC searches.
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.
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…
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 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 f…
We present a comprehensive analysis on the MSSM Higgs sector CP violation at photon colliders including the chargino contributions as well as the contributions of other charged particles. The chargino loop contributions can be important for the would-be CP odd Higgs production at photon colliders. Polarization asymmetries are indispensable in determining the CP properties of neutral Higgs bosons.
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,…
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…
We present an update of neutral Higgs boson decays into bottom quark pairs in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model. In particular the resummation of potentially large higher-order corrections due to the soft SUSY breaking parameters A_b and mu is extended. The remaining theoretical uncertainties due to unknown higher-order SUSY-QCD corrections are analyzed quantitatively.
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.
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
It is generally believed that in single-field slow-roll inflation, a large tensor-to-scalar ratio $r > 0.1$ requires inflaton field values close to or above the Planck scale. Recently, it has been claimed that $r > 0.15$ can be achieved with much smaller inflaton field values $Δϕ< M_{Pl}/10$. We show that in single-field slow-roll inflation, it is impossible to reconcile $r > 0.1$ with such small field values, independently of the form of the potential, and that the recent claim to the contrary is based on an invalid approximation. We conclude that the result of the BICEP2 measurement of $r > …
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.
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…
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 revisit large field inflation models with modulations in light of the recent discovery of the primordial B-mode polarization by the BICEP2 experiment, which, when combined with the Planck + WP + highL data, gives a strong hint for additional suppression of the CMB temperature fluctuations at small scales. Such a suppression can be explained by a running spectral index. In fact, it was pointed out by two of the present authors (TK and FT) that the existence of both tensor mode perturbations and a sizable running of the spectral index is a natural outcome of large inflation models with modula…
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…
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…
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 $10^{12}$.
Within the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Model (CMSSM) it is possible to predict the low energy gauge couplings and masses of the 3 generation particles from a few supergravity inspired parameters at the GUT scale. Moreover, the CMSSM predicts electroweak symmetry breaking due to large radiative corrections from the Yukawa couplings, thus relating the $Z^0$ boson mass to the top quark mass via the renormalization group equations (RGE). In addition, the cosmological constraints on the lifetime of the universe are considered in the fits. The new precise measurements of the strong coupling c…
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 study an extension of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with a gauge group $SU(2)_1\otimes SU(2)_2$ breaking to $SU(2)_L$. The extra wino has an enhanced gauge coupling to the SM-like Higgs boson and, if light, has a relevant impact on the weak scale phenomenology. The low energy Higgs quartic coupling is modified both by extra $D$-term corrections and by a modification of its renormalization group evolution from high energies. At low values of $\tanβ$, the latter effect may be dominant. This leads to interesting regions of parameter space in which the model can accommodate a 125 Ge…
In this work, we revisit the perturbations that are generated in the bounce inflation scenario constructed within the framework of $f(T)$ theory. It has been well known that pure $f(T)$ theory cannot give rise to bounce inflation behavior, so aside from the gravity part, we also employ a canonical scalar field for minimal extension. We calculate the perturbations in $f(T)$ theory using the well-established ADM formalism, and find various conditions to avoid their pathologies. We find that it is indeed very difficult to obtain a healthy model without those pathologies, however, one may find a w…
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…
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…
We apply the effective field theory definition of Minimal Flavour Violation (MFV) to the MSSM. We explicitly show how, by this definition, the new sources of flavour and CP violation present in the MSSM become functions of the SM Yukawa couplings, and cannot be simply set to zero, as is common wisdom in phenomenological MSSM studies that assume MFV. We apply our approach to the MSSM Delta B = 2 Hamiltonian at low tan(beta). The limit of MFV amounts to a striking increase in the predictivity of the model. In particular, SUSY corrections to meson-antimeson mass differences Delta M(d,s) are alway…
We study the structure of two-point correlators of the inflationary field fluctuations in order to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the existing methods to calculate primordial spectra. We present a description motivated by the separation of the fast and slow evolving components of the spectrum which is based on Cholesky decomposition of the field correlator matrix. Our purpose is to rewrite all the relevant equations of motion in terms of slowly varying quantities. This is important in order to consider the contribution from high-frequency modes to the spectrum without affecting computa…
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…
Natural supergravity models of new inflation are reconsidered as minimal inflationary models within slow-roll approximation. Their running spectral index is derived in a revised form with recent observational results and future refinements in mind. This will possibly determine essential model parameters with respect to Planck-suppressed operators.
We study the complete one loop contribution to H^\pm\to W^\pm V, V= Z, γ, both in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) and in the Two Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM). We evaluate the MSSM contributions and compare them with the 2HDM ones taking into account b\to sγconstraint, vacuum stability and unitarity constraints in the case of 2HDM, as well as experimental constraints on the MSSM and 2HDM parameters. In the MSSM, we found that in the intermediate range of \tanβ\la 10 and for large A_t, the branching ratio of H^\pm \to W^{\pm} Z can be of the order 10^{-3} while the branching ratio…
We revisit gravitino production following inflation. As a first step, we review the standard calculation of gravitino production in the thermal plasma formed at the end of post-inflationary reheating when the inflaton has completely decayed. Next we consider gravitino production prior to the completion of reheating, assuming that the inflaton decay products thermalize instantaneously while they are still dilute. We then argue that instantaneous thermalization is in general a good approximation, and also show that the contribution of non-thermal gravitino production via the collisions of inflat…
We consider an extension of nuMSSM with an extra U(1) that realizes D-term inflation driven by the right-handed sneutrino. Non-renormalizable terms in the Kahler potential and the superpotential are considered, the latter controlled by a suitable discrete R-symmetry. We find that, for subplanckian inflaton values, the predictions of inflationary parameters are compatible with observations, establishing the right-handed sneutrino driven inflation as a viable scenario.
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 …
Imposing that the excursion distance of inflaton in field space during inflation be less than the Planck scale, we derive an upper bound on the tensor-to-scalar ratio at the CMB scales, i.e. $r_{*,max}$, in the general canonical single-field slow-roll inflation model, in particular the model with non-negligible running of the spectral index $α_s$ and/or the running of running $β_s$. We find that $r_{*,max}\simeq 7\times 10^{-4}$ for $n_s=0.9645$ without running and running of running, and $r_{*,max}$ is significantly relaxed to the order of ${\cal O}(10^{-2}\sim 10^{-1})$ in the inflation mode…
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 an inflationary universe model in which the phase of accelerated expansion was preceded by a non-singular bounce and a period of contraction which involves a phase of deceleration. We follow fluctuations which exit the Hubble radius in the radiation-dominated contracting phase as quantum vacuum fluctuations, re-enter the Hubble radius in the deflationary period and re-cross during the phase of inflationary expansion. Evolving the fluctuations using the general relativistic linear perturbation equations, we find that they exit the Hubble radius during inflation not with a scale-inva…
We revisit the no-scale ripple inflation model, where no-scale supergravity is modified by an additional term for the inflaton field in the Kahler potential. This term not only breaks one SU(N,1) symmetry explicitly, but also plays an important role for inflation. We generalize the superpotential in the no-scale ripple inflation model slightly. There exists a discrete Z_2 symmetry/parity in the scalar potential in general, which can be preserved or violated by the non-canonical nomalized inflaton kinetic term. Thus, there are three inflation paths: one parity invariant path, and the left and r…
We update the constraints on the power spectra of primordial curvature perturbation and tensor perturbation including Planck data 2015 (P15) and recently released BICEP2/Keck data (BK15), Baryon Acoustic Oscillation data and the Type Ia supernovae data. We find that the upper limits of tensor-to-scalar ratio are $0.061$, $0.064$ and $0.072$ at $95\%$ confidence level (CL) in the $Λ$CDM+$r$, $Λ$CDM+$r$+$α_s$ and $Λ$CDM+$r$+$α_s$+$β_s$ models respectively, where $α_s$ and $β_s$ are the running of scalar spectral index and running of running. The inflation model with a concave potential is favore…
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 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 present a re-analysis of the decay $\bsgamma$ in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with radiatively induced breaking of $SU(2) \times U(1)$. We extend this analysis to regions of the supersymmetric parameter space wider than those previously studied. Results are explicitly presented for $m_t=150\GeV$. We emphasize the consequences for future searches of charged Higgs and charginos from a measurement of the branching ratio for this decay compatible with the Standard Model prediction. In spite of the strong sensitivity of this decay to the effects of supersymmetry, we find that, at th…
We study the effects of including one-loop radiative corrections in a non-supersymmetric hybrid inflationary model. These corrections can arise from Yukawa couplings between the inflaton and right-handed neutrinos, and induce a maximum in the potential which admits hilltop-type solutions in addition to the standard hybrid solutions. We obtain a red-tilted spectral index $n_s$, consistent with WMAP5 data, for sub-Planckian values of the field. This is in contrast to the tree level hybrid analysis, in which a red-tilted spectrum is achieved only for trans-Planckian values of the field. Successfu…
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 …
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 Zbb coupling determined from the Z-pole measurements at LEP/SLD shows an about 3-sigma deviation from the SM prediction, which would signal the presence of new physics in association with the Zbb coupling. In this work we give a comprehensive study for the full one-loop supersymmetric effects on the Zbb coupling in both the MSSM and the NMSSM by considering all current constraints which are from the precision electroweak measurements, the direct search for sparticles and Higgs bosons, the stability of Higgs potential, the dark matter relic density, and the muon g-2 measurement. We analyze …
We revisit the constraints on inflation models by using the current cosmological observations involving the latest local measurement of the Hubble constant ($H_{0} = 73.00\pm 1.75$ km s $^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$). We constrain the primordial power spectra of both scalar and tensor perturbations with the observational data including the Planck 2015 CMB full data, the BICEP2 and Keck Array CMB B-mode data, the BAO data, and the direct measurement of $H_0$. In order to relieve the tension between the local determination of the Hubble constant and the other astrophysical observations, we consider the add…
It has recently been suggested that Planck scale physics may effect the evolution of cosmological fluctuations in the early stages of cosmological inflation in a non-trivial way, leading to an excited state for modes whose wavelength is super-Planck but sub-Hubble. In this case, the issue of how this excited state back-reacts on the background space-time arises. In fact, it has been suggested that such back-reaction effects may lead to tight constraints on the magnitude of possible deviations from the usual predictions of inflation. In this note we discuss some subtle aspects of this back-reac…
