Implementing quadratic supergravity inflation

TL;DR

This paper explores a supergravity inflation model with a quadratic potential, showing it can naturally generate initial conditions and match observed density fluctuations without strict energy scale constraints.

Contribution

It introduces a supergravity quadratic inflation model incorporating radiative corrections, allowing for a broad range of inflation energy scales.

Findings

Inflation energy scale is not tightly constrained by density fluctuation requirements.

The model naturally generates initial conditions via thermal effects.

Inflaton mass range includes supersymmetry breaking and electroweak scales.

Abstract

We study inflation driven by a slow-rolling inflaton field, characterised by a quadratic potential, and incorporating radiative corrections within the context of supergravity. In this model the energy scale of inflation is not overly constrained by the requirement of generating the observed level of density fluctuations and can have a physically interesting value, e.g. the supersymmetry breaking scale of $10^{10}$ GeV or the electroweak scale of $10^3$ GeV. In this mass range the inflaton is light enough to be confined at the origin by thermal effects, naturally generating the initial conditions for a (last) stage of inflation of the new inflationary type.