Moduli Stabilization and Inflation Using Wrapped Branes

TL;DR

This paper proposes a string theory-inspired cosmological model where wrapped branes induce early Universe inflation and stabilize moduli, but faces challenges in generating scale-invariant fluctuations and reheating.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism using wrapped branes for moduli stabilization and inflation within string theory, addressing the overshoot problem.

Findings

Wrapped brane gases can induce inflation and stabilize moduli.

The model naturally exits inflation but faces fluctuation and reheating issues.

Additional physics is needed for scale-invariant spectra.

Abstract

We demonstrate that a gas of wrapped branes in the early Universe can help resolve the cosmological Dine-Seiberg/Brustein-Steinhardt overshoot problem in the context of moduli stabilization with steep potentials in string theory. Starting from this mechanism, we propose a cosmological model with a natural setting in the context of an early phase dominated by brane and string gases. The Universe inflates at early times due to the presence of a wrapped two brane (domain wall) gas and all moduli are stabilized. A natural graceful exit from the inflationary regime is achieved. However, the basic model suffers from a generalized domain wall/reheating problem and cannot generate a scale invariant spectrum of fluctuations without additional physics. Several suggestions are presented to address these issues.