Dark Matter and Inflation in $R+\zeta R^{2}$ Supergravity

TL;DR

This paper explores how $R+ heta R^2$ supergravity models can unify Starobinsky inflation with superheavy gravitino dark matter, analyzing gravitino production, mass spectrum, and potential cosmological implications.

Contribution

It introduces a framework where high-scale supersymmetry breaking, gravitino dark matter, and Starobinsky inflation are coherently integrated within $R+ heta R^2$ supergravity.

Findings

Gravitinos are non-thermally produced during inflation with a continuous superheavy mass spectrum.

The model predicts gravitino decay into energetic neutrinos and photons, affecting cosmic ray observations.

Abstract

As is well known, the gravitational degrees of freedom contained in $R+\zeta R^{2}$ (super)gravity lead to Starobinsky's potential, in a one-field setting for inflationary Cosmology that appears favored by Planck data. In this letter we discuss another interesting aspect of this model, related to gravitino production, with emphasis on the corresponding mass spectrum. Assuming that supersymmetry is broken at a very high scale, Super Heavy Gravitino Dark Matter (SHGDM) and Starobinsky's inflation can be coherently unified in a $R+\zeta R^{2}$ supergravity. Gravitinos are assumed to be the Lightest Supersymmetric Particles (LSP) and are non-thermally produced during inflation, in turn originated by a scalar with a Starobinsky's potential. Gravitino mass runs with the inflaton field, so that a continuos spectrum of superheavy gravitinos emerges. The theory is implemented with a $U(1)_{R}$ gauge symmetry. However, in a string UV completion, $U(1)_{R}$-symmetry can be broken by non-perturbative string instantons, while for consistency of our scenario $U(1)_{R}$ gauge symmetry breaking must be broken in order to generate a soft mass terms for the gravitino and gauginos. R-parity violating operators can be generated at non-perturbative level. Gravitinos can decay into very energetic neutrinos and photons in cosmological time scale, with intriguing implications for high energy cosmic rays experiments.