arXiv subjects

Andrei Linde

Publications and source records attributed to Andrei Linde.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Cosmological Attractors and Initial Conditions for Inflation

Inflationary $α$-attractor models in supergravity, which provide excellent fits to the latest observational data, are based on the Poincare disk hyperbolic geometry. We refine these models by constructing Kahler potentials with built-in inflaton shift symmetry and by making a canonical choice of the goldstino Kahler potential. The refined models are stable with respect to all scalar fields at all $α$, no additional stabilization terms are required. The scalar potential V has a nearly Minkowski minimum at small values of the inflaton field $φ$, and an infinitely long dS valley of constant depth and width at large $φ$. Because of the infinite length of this shift-symmetric valley, the initial value of the inflaton field at the Planck density is expected to be extremely large. We show that the inflaton field $φ$ does not change much until all fields lose their energy and fall to the bottom of the dS valley at large $φ$. This provides natural initial conditions for inflation driven by the inflaton field slowly rolling along the dS valley towards the minimum of the potential at small $φ$. A detailed description of this process is given for $α$-attractors in supergravity, but we believe that our general conclusions concerning naturalness of initial conditions for inflation are valid for a broad class of inflationary models with sufficiently flat potentials.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

$α$-Attractors: Planck, LHC and Dark Energy

We develop four-parameter supergravity models of inflation and dark energy, constrained so that ${δρ\over ρ}$, $n_s$ and the cosmological constant $Λ$ take their known observable values, but where the mass of gravitino $m_{3/2}$ and the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ are free parameters. We focus on generalized cosmological $α$-attractor models, with logarithmic Kahler potentials, a nilpotent goldstino and spontaneously broken supersymmetry at the de Sitter minimum. The future data on B-modes will specify the parameter $α$, measuring the geometry of the Kahler, manifold. The string landscape idea for dark energy is supported in these models via an incomplete cancellation of the universal positive goldstino and negative gravitino contribution. The scale of SUSY breaking M related to the mass of gravitino in our models is a controllable parameter, independent on the scale of inflation, it will be constrained by LHC data and future collider Energy-frontier experiments.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Escher in the Sky

The cosmological models called $α$-attractors provide an excellent fit to the latest observational data. Their predictions $n_{s} = 1-2/N$ and $r = 12α/N^{2}$ are very robust with respect to the modifications of the inflaton potential. An intriguing interpretation of $α$-attractors is based on a geometric moduli space with a boundary: a Poincare disk model of a hyperbolic geometry with the radius $\sqrt{3α}$, beautifully represented by the Escher's picture Circle Limit IV. In such models, the amplitude of the gravitational waves is proportional to the square of the radius of the Poincare disk.

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arXiv2015

The Hyperbolic Geometry of Cosmological Attractors

Cosmological alpha-attractors give a natural explanation for the spectral index n_s of inflation as measured by Planck while predicting a range for the tensor-to-scalar ratio r, consistent with all observations, to be measured more precisely in future detection of gravity waves. Their embedding into supergravity exploits the hyperbolic geometry of the Poincare disk or half-plane. These geometries are isometric under Mobius transformations, which include the shift symmetry of the inflaton field. We introduce a new Kahler potential frame that explicitly preserves this symmetry, enabling the inflaton to be light. Moreover, we include higher-order curvature deformations, which can stabilize a direction orthogonal to the inflationary trajectory. We illustrate this new framework by stabilizing the single superfield alpha-attractors.

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arXiv2015

Planck, LHC, and $α$-attractors

We describe a simple class of cosmological models called $α$ attractors, which provide an excellent fit to the latest Planck data. These theories are most naturally formulated in the context of supergravity with logarithmic Kahler potentials. We develop generalized versions of these models which can describe not only inflation but also dark energy and supersymmetry breaking.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

Single-field $α$-attractors

I describe a simple class of $α$-attractors, generalizing the single-field GL model of inflation in supergravity. The new class of models is defined for $0<α\lesssim 1$, providing a good match to the present cosmological data. I also present a generalized version of these models which can describe not only inflation but also dark energy and supersymmetry breaking.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

The Unity of Cosmological Attractors

Recently, several broad classes of inflationary models have been discovered whose cosmological predictions are stable with respect to significant modifications of the inflaton potential. Some classes of models are based on a non-minimal coupling to gravity. These models, which we will call $ξ$-attractors, describe universal cosmological attractors (including Higgs inflation) and induced inflation models. Another class describes conformal attractors (including Starobinsky inflation and T-models) and their generalization to $α$-attractors. The aim of this paper is to elucidate the common denominator of these models: their attractor properties stem from a pole of order two in the kinetic term of the inflaton field in the Einstein frame formulation, prior to switching to the canonical variables. We point out that $α$- and universal attractors differ in the subleading corrections to the kinetic term. As a final step towards unification of $ξ$ and $α$ attractors, we introduce a special class of $ξ$-attractors which is fully equivalent to $α$-attractors with the identification $α= 1+{1\over 6ξ}$. There is no theoretical lower bound on $r$ in this class of models.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Does the first chaotic inflation model in supergravity provide the best fit to the Planck data?

I describe the first model of chaotic inflation in supergravity, which was proposed by Goncharov and the present author in 1983. The inflaton potential of this model has a plateau-type behavior $V_{0} (1- {8\over 3}\, e^{-\sqrt 6 |ϕ|})$ at large values of the inflaton field. This model predicts $n_{s} = 1-{2\over N} \approx 0.967$ and $r = {4\over 3 N^{2}} \approx 4 \times 10^{-4}$, in good agreement with the Planck data. I propose a slight generalization of this model, which allows to describe not only inflation but also dark energy and supersymmetry breaking.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Inflation and Dark Energy with a Single Superfield

We discuss the possibility to construct supergravity models with a single superfield describing inflation as well as the tiny cosmological constant $V \sim 10^{-120}$. One could expect that the simplest way to do it is to study models with a supersymmetric Minkowski vacuum and then slightly uplift them. However, due to the recently proven no-go theorem, such a tiny uplifting cannot be achieved by a small modification of the parameters of the theory. We illustrate this general result by investigation of models with a single chiral superfield recently proposed by Ketov and Terada. We show that the addition of a small constant or a linear term to the superpotential of a model with a stable supersymmetric Minkowski vacuum converts it to an AdS vacuum, which results in a rapid cosmological collapse. One can avoid this problem and uplift a supersymmetric Minkowski vacuum to a dS vacuum with $V_{0}\sim 10^{-120}$ without violating the no-go theorem by making these extra terms large enough. However, we show that this leads to a strong supersymmetry breaking in the uplifted vacua.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Inflation, de Sitter Landscape and Super-Higgs effect

We continue developing cosmological models involving nilpotent chiral superfields, which provide a simple unified description of inflation and the current acceleration of the universe in the supergravity context. We describe here a general class of models with a positive cosmological constant at the minimum of the potential, such that supersymmetry is spontaneously broken in the direction of the nilpotent superfield $S$. In the unitary gauge, these models have a simple action where all highly non-linear fermionic terms of the classical Volkov-Akulov action disappear. We present masses for bosons and fermions in these theories. By a proper choice of parameters in this class of models, one can fit any possible set of the inflationary parameters $n_{s}$ and $r$, a broad range of values of the vacuum energy $V_{0}$, which plays the role of the dark energy, and achieve a controllable level of supersymmetry breaking. This can be done without introducing light moduli, such as Polonyi fields, which often lead to cosmological problems in phenomenological supergravity.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Inflation and Uplifting with Nilpotent Superfields

Recently it was found that a broad class of existing inflationary models based on supergravity can be significantly simplified if some of the standard, unconstrained chiral superfields are replaced by nilpotent superfields, associated with Volkov-Akulov supersymmetry. The same method allows to simplify the existing models of uplifting of AdS vacua in string theory. In this paper we will show that one can go well beyond simplifying the models that already exist. We will propose a broad class of new models of chaotic inflation based on supergravity with nilpotent superfields, which simultaneously incorporate both inflation and uplifting. They provide a simple unified description of inflation and the present acceleration of the universe in the supergravity context.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

The double attractor behavior of induced inflation

We describe an induced inflation, which refers to a class of inflationary models with a generalized non-minimal coupling $ξg(ϕ) R$ and a specific scalar potential. The defining property of these models is that the scalar field takes a vev in the vacuum and thus induces an effective Planck mass. We study this model as a function of the coupling parameter $ξ$. At large $ξ$, the predictions of the theory are known to have an attractor behavior, converging to a universal result independent on the choice of the function $g(ϕ)$. We find that at small $ξ$, the theory approaches a second attractor. The inflationary predictions of this class of theories continuously interpolate between those of the Starobinsky model and the predictions of the simplest chaotic inflation with a quadratic potential.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Cosmology with Nilpotent Superfields

We discuss N=1 supergravity inflationary models based on two chiral multiplets, the inflaton and the goldstino superfield. Using superconformal methods for these models, we propose to replace the unconstrained chiral goldstino multiplet by the nilpotent one associated with non-linearly realized supersymmetry of the Volkov-Akulov type. In the new cosmological models, the sgoldstino is proportional to a bilinear combination of fermionic goldstinos. It does not acquire any vev, does nor require stabilization, and does not affect the cosmological evolution. We explain a universal relation of these new models to kappa-symmetric super-Dp-brane actions. This modification significantly simplifies a broad class of the presently existing inflationary models based on supergravity and string theory, including the simplest versions of chaotic inflation, the Starobinsky model, a broad class of cosmological attractors, the Higgs inflation, and much more. In particular, this is a step towards a fully supersymmetric version of the string theory axion monodromy inflation. The new construction serves as a simple and manifestly supersymmetric uplifting tool in the KKLT-type string theory landscape.

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arXiv2014

Natural Inflation in Supergravity and Beyond

Supergravity models of natural inflation and its generalizations are presented. These models are special examples of the class of supergravity models proposed in arXiv:1008.3375 and arXiv:1011.5945, which have a shift symmetric Kähler potential, superpotential linear in goldstino, and stable Minkowski vacua. We present a class of supergravity models with arbitrary potentials modulated by sinusoidal oscillations, similar to the potentials associated with axion monodromy models. We show that one can implement natural inflation in supergravity even in the models of a single axion field with axion parameters O(1). We also discuss the irrational axion landscape in supergravity, which describes a potential with infinite number of stable Minkowski and metastable dS minima.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Is Imaginary Starobinsky Model Real?

We investigate the recently proposed possibility of chaotic inflation with respect to the imaginary part of the field T in a supersymmetric embedding of the Starobinsky model. We show that the stage of rapid expansion driven by Im T in this model ends almost instantly, and the subsequent stages of inflation are driven by the real part of the field T, as in the standard Starobinsky model. Thus, the Starobinsky model and its supersymmetric generalizations remain disfavored by the recent BICEP2 data.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Large Field Inflation and Double $α$-Attractors

We consider a broad class of inflationary models that arise naturally in supergravity. They are defined in terms of a parameter $α$ that determines the curvature and cutoff of these models. As a function of this parameter, we exhibit that the inflationary predictions generically interpolate between two attractor points. At small cutoff $α$, the resulting inflationary model is of plateau-type with $n_s = 1 - 2 / N$ and $r = 12 α/ N^2$. For $α= 1$, these predictions coincide with predictions of the Starobinsky model and Higgs inflation. In contrast, for large cutoff $α$, the theory asymptotes to quadratic inflation, with $n_s = 1 - 2 / N$, $r = 8 / N$. Both universal predictions can be attributed to a stretching of the moduli space. For intermediate values of $α$, the predictions interpolate between these two critical points, thus covering the sweet spots of both Planck and BICEP2.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Analytic Classes of Metastable de Sitter Vacua

In this paper, we give a systematic procedure for building locally stable dS vacua in $\mathcal{N}=1$ supergravity models motivated by string theory. We assume that one of the superfields has a Kahler potential of no-scale type and impose a hierarchy of supersymmetry breaking conditions. In the no-scale modulus direction the supersymmetry breaking is not small, in all other directions it is of order $ε$. We establish the existence of an abundance of vacua for large regions in the parameter space spanned by $ε$ and the cosmological constant. These regions exist regardless of the details of the other moduli, provided the superpotential can be tuned such that the off-diagonal blocks of the mass matrix are parametrically small. We test and support this general dS landscape construction by explicit analytic solutions for the STU model. The Minkowski limits of these dS vacua either break supersymmetry or have flat directions in agreement with a no-go theorem that we prove, stating that a supersymmetric Minkowski vacuum without flat directions cannot be continuously deformed into a non-supersymmetric vacuum. We also describe a method for finding a broad class of stable supersymmetric Minkowski vacua that can be F-term uplifted to dS vacua and which have an easily controllable SUSY breaking scale.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Chaotic Inflation in Supergravity after Planck and BICEP2

We discuss the general structure and observational consequences of some of the simplest versions of chaotic inflation in supergravity in relation to the data by Planck 2013 and BICEP2. We show that minimal modifications to the simplest quadratic potential are sufficient to provide a controllable tensor mode signal and a suppression of CMB power at large angular scales.

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