Higher Order Corrections in Minimal Supergravity Models of Inflation

TL;DR

This paper investigates higher order corrections in minimal supergravity models of inflation, showing that such corrections do not significantly impact the last 60 e-foldings of inflation, and derives supersymmetric corrections for R^n terms.

Contribution

It provides a manifestly supersymmetric framework for higher order corrections in supergravity inflation models, including R^n corrections and their dual formulations.

Findings

Higher order corrections do not affect the last 60 e-foldings of inflation.

Derived supersymmetric R^n corrections and their dual models.

Higher curvature terms like R^4 are negligible for small coupling <10^{24}.

Abstract

We study higher order corrections in new minimal supergravity models of a single scalar field inflation. The gauging in these models leads to a massive vector multiplet and the D-term potential for the inflaton field with a coupling g^{2} ~ 10^{-10}. In the de-Higgsed phase with vanishing g^2, the chiral and vector multiplets are non-interacting, and the potential vanishes. We present generic manifestly supersymmetric higher order corrections for these models. In particular, for a supersymmetric gravity model -R+ R^2 we derive manifestly supersymmetric corrections corresponding to R^n. The dual version corresponds to a standard supergravity model with a single scalar and a massive vector. It includes, in addition, higher Maxwell curvature/scalar interaction terms of the Born-Infeld type and a modified D-term scalar field potential. We use the dual version of the model to argue that higher order corrections do not affect the last 60 e-foldings of inflation; for example the \xi R^4 correction is irrelevant as long as \xi< 10^{24}.