D7-brane chaotic inflation

We analyze string-theoretic large-field inflation in the regime of spontaneously-broken supergravity with conventional moduli stabilization by fluxes and non-perturbative effects. The main ingredient is a shift-symmetric Kähler potential, supplemented by flux-induced shift symmetry breaking in the s...

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Main Authors: Arthur Hebecker, Sebastian C. Kraus, Lukas T. Witkowski
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2014-10-01
Series:Physics Letters B
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269314005954
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author Arthur Hebecker
Sebastian C. Kraus
Lukas T. Witkowski
author_facet Arthur Hebecker
Sebastian C. Kraus
Lukas T. Witkowski
author_sort Arthur Hebecker
collection DOAJ
description We analyze string-theoretic large-field inflation in the regime of spontaneously-broken supergravity with conventional moduli stabilization by fluxes and non-perturbative effects. The main ingredient is a shift-symmetric Kähler potential, supplemented by flux-induced shift symmetry breaking in the superpotential. The central technical observation is that all these features are present for D7-brane position moduli in Type IIB orientifolds, potentially allowing for a realization of the axion monodromy proposal in a string theory compactification. Furthermore, our model is explicit enough to address issues of control and moduli stabilization quantitatively. On the one hand, in the large complex structure regime the D7-brane position moduli inherit a shift symmetry from their mirror-dual Type IIA Wilson lines. On the other hand, the Type IIB flux superpotential generically breaks this shift symmetry and allows, by appealing to the large flux discretuum, to tune the relevant coefficients to be small. The shift-symmetric direction in D7-brane moduli space can then play the role of the inflaton: While the D7-brane circles a certain trajectory on the Calabi–Yau many times, the corresponding F-term energy density grows only very slowly, thanks to the above-mentioned tuning of the flux. To be successful our model requires that the dilaton, all complex structure moduli and all D7-brane moduli except the inflaton are fixed at leading order by fluxes. Then the large-field inflationary trajectory can be realized in a regime where Kähler, complex structure and other brane moduli are stabilized in a conventional manner, as we demonstrate using the example of the Large Volume Scenario.
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spelling doaj.art-60d23d51961945699192ca5a5c41dc6d2022-12-22T02:19:24ZengElsevierPhysics Letters B0370-26931873-24452014-10-01737C162210.1016/j.physletb.2014.08.028D7-brane chaotic inflationArthur HebeckerSebastian C. KrausLukas T. WitkowskiWe analyze string-theoretic large-field inflation in the regime of spontaneously-broken supergravity with conventional moduli stabilization by fluxes and non-perturbative effects. The main ingredient is a shift-symmetric Kähler potential, supplemented by flux-induced shift symmetry breaking in the superpotential. The central technical observation is that all these features are present for D7-brane position moduli in Type IIB orientifolds, potentially allowing for a realization of the axion monodromy proposal in a string theory compactification. Furthermore, our model is explicit enough to address issues of control and moduli stabilization quantitatively. On the one hand, in the large complex structure regime the D7-brane position moduli inherit a shift symmetry from their mirror-dual Type IIA Wilson lines. On the other hand, the Type IIB flux superpotential generically breaks this shift symmetry and allows, by appealing to the large flux discretuum, to tune the relevant coefficients to be small. The shift-symmetric direction in D7-brane moduli space can then play the role of the inflaton: While the D7-brane circles a certain trajectory on the Calabi–Yau many times, the corresponding F-term energy density grows only very slowly, thanks to the above-mentioned tuning of the flux. To be successful our model requires that the dilaton, all complex structure moduli and all D7-brane moduli except the inflaton are fixed at leading order by fluxes. Then the large-field inflationary trajectory can be realized in a regime where Kähler, complex structure and other brane moduli are stabilized in a conventional manner, as we demonstrate using the example of the Large Volume Scenario.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269314005954
spellingShingle Arthur Hebecker
Sebastian C. Kraus
Lukas T. Witkowski
D7-brane chaotic inflation
Physics Letters B
title D7-brane chaotic inflation
title_full D7-brane chaotic inflation
title_fullStr D7-brane chaotic inflation
title_full_unstemmed D7-brane chaotic inflation
title_short D7-brane chaotic inflation
title_sort d7 brane chaotic inflation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269314005954
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