Cosmology and Supergravity

TL;DR

This paper reviews supergravity-based inflation models with spontaneously broken local supersymmetry, highlighting the role of nilpotent superfields in describing a de Sitter phase of the universe, connecting fundamental theories to cosmological observations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of supergravity inflation models emphasizing the use of nilpotent superfields for modeling the universe's accelerated expansion.

Findings

Nilpotent superfields effectively model de Sitter phases.

Supergravity theories connect fundamental physics with early-universe cosmology.

Spontaneous supersymmetry breaking is crucial for inflation models.

Abstract

Abdus Salam was a true master of 20th Century Theoretical Physics. Not only was he a pioneer of the Standard Model (for which he shared the Nobel Prize with S. Glashow and S.Weinberg), but he also (co)authored many other outstanding contributions to the field of Fundamental Interactions and their unification. In particular, he was a major contributor to the development of supersymmetric theories, where he also coined the word "Supersymmetry" (replacing the earlier "Supergauges" drawn from String Theory). He also introduced the basic concept of "Superspace" and the notion of "Goldstone Fermion"(Goldstino). These concepts proved instrumental for the exploration of the ultraviolet properties and for the study of spontaneously broken phases of super Yang-Mills theories and Supergravity. They continue to play a key role in current developments in Early-Universe Cosmology. In this contribution we review models of inflation based on Supergravity with spontaneously broken local supersymmetry, with emphasis on the role of nilpotent superfields to describe a de Sitter phase of our Universe.