Generic scalar potentials for inflation in supergravity with a single chiral superfield

Sergei V Ketov,Takahiro Terada

doi:10.1007/jhep12(2014)062

Abstract

We propose a large class of supergravity models in terms of a single chiral matter superfield, leading to (almost) arbitrary single-field inflationary scalar potentials similar to the F-term in rigid supersymmetry. Those scalar potentials are positively semi-definite (in our approximation), and can preserve supersymmetry at the end of inflation. The only scalar superpartner of inflaton is stabilized by a higher-dimensional term in the Kahler potential. We argue that couplings of the inflaton to other sectors of the particle spectrum do not affect the inflationary dynamics, and briefly discuss reheating of the universe by the inflaton decays.

Highlights

Describing inflation and, in particular, a large field or chaotic inflation [16] in supergravity is known to be non-trivial, because of the presence of the exponential factor and the negatively definite term in the F -type scalar potential
We propose a large class of supergravity models in terms of a single chiral matter superfield, leading to arbitrary single-field inflationary scalar potentials similar to the F -term in rigid supersymmetry
In this paper we proposed the simple framework for a construction of arbitrary positively semi-definite single field inflationary potentials in supergravity by using only a single chiral superfield

Summary

Designing arbitrary inflationary potentials in supergravity

In ref. [32] our method and results were not practical enough, in order to derive explicit scalar potentials suitable for inflation, because the scalar potential derived from our Kahlerand super- potentials of supergravity had a complicated form. One expects the shift symmetry breaking terms to be suppressed by the same scale as the superpotential in the Kahler potential due to quantum corrections Those effects are beyond the scope of this paper since we are interested in a simple classical framework in the first place. A superpotential W with real coefficients, after stabilization of the imaginary part ImΦ = 0, the scalar potential reads This way a very large class of inflationary potentials can be obtained by using only one chiral superfield. Can be used for a new [4, 5], chaotic [16], or topological [40,41,42] inflation, depending on the values of the parameters and the initial conditions, see e.g. a review [43] It is obtained from the following superpotential:.

Confirmation of stabilization

Impact of matter couplings on inflaton dynamics

Conclusion

A Specific stabilization for various Kahler potentials

B Supergravity realizations of the deformed Starobinsky models

C On the possible origin of the quartic term