# Quintessential inflation with a trap and axionic dark matter

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a supergravity-inspired quintessential inflation model that unifies inflation, dark energy, and axionic dark matter, resolving the strong CP problem and avoiding isocurvature issues through a trapping mechanism at an enhanced symmetry point.

## Contribution

It proposes a novel inflationary model with a kinetic pole and a trapping mechanism that naturally integrates dark energy, axionic dark matter, and solves the strong CP problem without fine-tuning.

## Key findings

- Successfully accounts for inflation and dark energy observations
- Generates axionic dark matter without isocurvature perturbations
- Resolves the strong CP problem in QCD

## Abstract

We study a new model of quintessential inflation which is inspired by supergravity and string theory. The model features a kinetic pole, which gives rise to the inflationary plateau, and a runaway quintessential tail. We envisage a coupling between the inflaton and the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) field which terminates the roll of the runaway inflaton and traps the latter at an enhanced symmetry point (ESP), thereby breaking the PQ symmetry. The kinetic density of the inflaton is transferred to the newly created thermal bath of the hot big bang due to the decay of PQ particles. The model successfully accounts for the observations of inflation and dark energy without any fine-tuning, while also resolving the strong CP problem of QCD and generating axionic dark matter, without isocurvature perturbations. Trapping the inflaton at the ESP ensures that the model does not suffer from the infamous 5th force problem, which typically plagues quintessence.