Generic Scalar Potentials for Inflation in Supergravity with a Single Chiral Superfield

TL;DR

This paper introduces a broad class of supergravity models with a single chiral superfield that can produce nearly arbitrary inflationary potentials, maintaining supersymmetry at the end of inflation and ensuring stability of the inflaton.

Contribution

It presents a novel framework for constructing inflationary potentials in supergravity using a single chiral superfield, with implications for supersymmetry preservation and reheating.

Findings

Scalar potentials are positively semi-definite and similar to F-term potentials.

Inflaton's superpartner is stabilized by higher-dimensional Kahler potential terms.

Couplings to other sectors do not significantly affect inflationary dynamics.

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.