Inflation in Wess--Zumino Models

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that certain Wess--Zumino models naturally facilitate slow-roll inflation through flat directions and quantum corrections, ending in a supersymmetric vacuum due to R symmetry breaking.

Contribution

It introduces a class of Wess--Zumino models that inherently support inflation via flat directions and quantum effects, linking supersymmetry breaking to cosmological inflation.

Findings

Inflation driven by pseudomoduli in Wess--Zumino models.

Small inflaton mass from one-loop or supergravity corrections.

Transition to a supersymmetric vacuum after inflation.

Abstract

We show that a class of Wess--Zumino models lead to inflation in supersymmetry and supergravity. This is due to the existence of a classically flat direction generic to these models. The pseudomodulus that parametrizes this flat direction is the inflaton and obtains a small mass due to either one--loop or supergravity corrections giving rise to slow--roll inflation. At the end of inflation, the fields roll to a supersymmetric vacuum that arises from explicit R symmetry breaking.