# Gaugid inflation

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel inflationary model based on a magnetic gaugid, a non-linear gauge field phase, which alters the primordial gravitational wave spectrum compared to standard inflation models.

## Contribution

It presents a new inflationary framework using a gaugid, affecting tensor modes and expanding the concept of solid inflation with unique gauge field dynamics.

## Key findings

- Gaugid-driven inflation modifies the primordial tensor spectrum.
- Helicity-2 phonons mix with gravitons, impacting gravitational wave predictions.
- Scalar and vector perturbations resemble those in solid inflation.

## Abstract

The spectrum of primordial gravitational waves is one of the most robust inflationary observables, often thought of as a direct probe of the energy scale of inflation. We present a simple model, where the dynamics controlling this observable is very different than in the standard paradigm of inflation. The model is based on a peculiar finite density phase---the magnetic gaugid---which stems from a highly non-linear effective theory of a triplet of abelian gauge fields. The gaugid extends the notion of homogeneous isotropic solid, in that its spectrum of fluctuations includes helicity-2 phonons. We show how, upon implementing the gaugid to drive inflation, the helicity-2 phonon mixes with the graviton, significantly affecting the size of the primordial tensor spectrum. The rest of the features of the theory, in particular the vector and scalar perturbations, closely resemble those of solid inflation.