Phase Locked Inflation -- Effectively Trans-Planckian Natural Inflation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a 'phase locking' mechanism enabling natural inflation with an effectively trans-Planckian decay constant while maintaining sub-Planckian field values, and explores supersymmetric extensions and phenomenological implications.

Contribution

It presents a detailed model of phase locked inflation, including supersymmetric versions, and links the inflation scale to right-handed neutrino masses within the seesaw framework.

Findings

Successful realization of trans-Planckian decay constants within effective field theory

Supersymmetric natural inflation models compatible with low-scale SUSY

Inflation scale related to right-handed neutrino mass in seesaw mechanism

Abstract

A model of natural inflation with an effectively trans-Planckian decay constant can be easily achieved by the "phase locking" mechanism while keeping field values in the effective field theory within the Planck scale. We give detailed description of "phase locked" inflation based on this mechanism. We also construct supersymmetric natural inflation based on this mechanism and show that the model is consistent with low scale supersymmetry. We also investigate couplings of the inflaton with the minimal supersymmetric standard model to achieve an appropriate reheating process. Interestingly, in a certain class of models, we find that the inflation scale is related to the mass of the right-handed neutrino in a consistent way with the seesaw mechanism.