Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 1703.09729

Flux Flattening in Axion Monodromy Inflation

Aitor Landete·Fernando Marchesano·Gary Shiu·Gianluca Zoccarato
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

String theory models of axion monodromy inflation exhibit scalar potentials which are quadratic for small values of the inflaton field and evolve to a more complicated function for large field values. Oftentimes the large field behaviour is gentler than quadratic, lowering the tensor-to-scalar ratio. This effect, known as flattening, has been observed in the string theory context through the properties of the DBI+CS D-brane action. We revisit such flattening effects in type IIB flux compactifications with mobile D7-branes, with the inflaton identified with the D7-brane position. We observe that, with a generic choice of background fluxes, flattening effects are larger than previously observed, allowing to fit these models within current experimental bounds. In particular, we compute the cosmological observables in scenarios compatible with closed-string moduli stabilisation, finding tensor-to-scalar ratios as low as r ~ 0.04. These are models of single field inflation in which the inflaton is much lighter than the other scalars through a mild tuning of the compactification data.

Explore related subjects

hep-thgr-qc

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Aitor Landete, Fernando Marchesano, Gary Shiu, Gianluca Zoccarato. 2017-03-28. Flux Flattening in Axion Monodromy Inflation. https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep06(2017)071

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Timelike Entanglement from Spacetime Density Matrices: A Lattice Realization

We investigate timelike entanglement in quantum field theory using spacetime density matrices and provide a microscopic lattice realization. For a two-dimensional free real scalar field, we extend Gaussian diagonalization methods to the generally non-Hermitian reduced spacetime density matrix and determine its complete nonzero spectrum in the generic regular case, together with all integer R\'enyi moments. The real-time replica construction identifies these moments with Lorentzian branch-point twist-operator correlation functions. We test this identification against the full four-point function on a circle, boundary two-point functions with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions, and massive form-factor predictions, finding quantitative agreement in both magnitude and phase across distinct causal regimes. The boundary setup exhibits a finite causally connected window in which every integer R\'enyi entropy is real, showing that reality is not equivalent to causal disconnection. These results provide a microscopic lattice foundation for timelike entanglement and for Lorentzian twist-operator methods beyond equal-time regions.

hep-th↗
arXiv2026

Landau-Ginzburg description of an exceptional ${\mathcal N}=1$ minimal model

The $\mathcal N=1$ superconformal minimal model with $m=12$ and the exceptional modular invariant $(E_6,D_8)$ is the unitary minimal model of the super-$W_3$ algebra. We propose its Landau-Ginzburg description using two real scalar superfields with the cubic superpotential ${\cal W}=g_1 XY^2/2 + g_2X^3/6$. For $g_1=g_2$, this superpotential is known to describe a product of two $m=3$ $\mathcal N=1$ superconformal minimal models, which is the $m=10$ model with the $(D_6,E_6)$ modular invariant. The exceptional $m=12$ superconformal minimal model is realized at a different fixed point of the same theory. Testing this Landau-Ginzburg description requires the fusion ring of the minimal model, which we obtain from the modular data of the extended algebra. The fusion ring has a $\mathbb Z_2$ grading by chiral fermion parity that the ordinary fusion coefficients do not determine. This grading, composed with conjugation, gives the generator of the R-parity $\mathbb Z_2^{R}$ of the Landau-Ginzburg theory. We then treat the theory with superpotential $\cal W$ as a Gross-Neveu-Yukawa model in $d=4-\epsilon$ and find a weakly coupled infrared fixed point with $g_1/g_2=3/2+\mathcal O(\epsilon)$, at which supersymmetry emerges. We also describe the renormalization group flow from this fixed point to the decoupled fixed point with $g_1=g_2$. The operator dimensions at the coupled fixed point, continued to $d=2$, agree approximately with their values in the $m=12$ superconformal minimal model. Finally, we estimate the scaling dimensions in the new interacting $d=3$ $\mathcal N=1$ superconformal field theory.

hep-th↗
arXiv2026

Detecting one-dimensional bosonic SPT phases via twisted entropic order parameter

Entanglement asymmetry, introduced by F. Ares, S. Murciano and P. Calabrese, provides a density-matrix diagnostic of symmetry breaking and successfully captures the Landau data associated with a broken symmetry pattern. However, it is by now well established that gapped quantum many-body systems can exhibit phases which are not characterized solely by Landau symmetry breaking. A fundamental example is a symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase, and the ordinary definition of entanglement asymmetry is insensitive to this topological information. In this work we introduce a refined quantity, which we call the twisted entropic order parameter, designed to detect SPT phases from reduced density matrices, particularly focusing on one-dimensional bosonic systems. The key ingredient in our construction is an ancilla degrees of freedom that coherently records the untwisted state and the twisted state associated to a one-ended topological defect of unbroken symmetry, so that the enlarged density matrix retains the charge carried by the defect endpoint. We demonstrate our proposal in concrete lattice models and further generalize it beyond ordinary group symmetries, establishing its ability to diagnose SPT phases. This provides a first step toward a unified entanglement-asymmetry framework for diagnosing quantum phases of matter.

hep-th↗