March 20, 2008 | Eva Silverstein and Alexander Westphal
This paper presents a mechanism for obtaining large-field inflation and gravitational wave signatures from string theory compactified on twisted tori. The authors consider Nil manifolds, where the inflationary potential is proportional to $ \phi^{2/3} $, leading to predictions for the tilt of the power spectrum $ n_s \approx 0.98 $ and the tensor-to-scalar ratio $ r \approx 0.04 $ after 60 e-foldings of inflation. They also consider a variant with a potential proportional to $ \phi^{2/5} $. The mechanism relies on monodromy in D-branes moving in circles on the manifold, which extends the field range for the inflaton. The authors analyze the consistency of this model with moduli stabilization and background geometry, showing that the inflaton potential does not destabilize the moduli or significantly back-react on the geometry. They also discuss the observational predictions for the tensor-to-scalar ratio and the tilt of the power spectrum, which are in an observationally accessible regime. The paper also addresses the issue of controlling the slow-roll parameters and the role of symmetries in ensuring the stability of the inflaton trajectory. The authors conclude that their model is viable from both theoretical and observational perspectives, with a parametrically small coupling and curvature. The results suggest that the fractional power-law potential yields predictions for the tilt of the spectrum and the tensor-to-scalar ratio that are consistent with current observational data.This paper presents a mechanism for obtaining large-field inflation and gravitational wave signatures from string theory compactified on twisted tori. The authors consider Nil manifolds, where the inflationary potential is proportional to $ \phi^{2/3} $, leading to predictions for the tilt of the power spectrum $ n_s \approx 0.98 $ and the tensor-to-scalar ratio $ r \approx 0.04 $ after 60 e-foldings of inflation. They also consider a variant with a potential proportional to $ \phi^{2/5} $. The mechanism relies on monodromy in D-branes moving in circles on the manifold, which extends the field range for the inflaton. The authors analyze the consistency of this model with moduli stabilization and background geometry, showing that the inflaton potential does not destabilize the moduli or significantly back-react on the geometry. They also discuss the observational predictions for the tensor-to-scalar ratio and the tilt of the power spectrum, which are in an observationally accessible regime. The paper also addresses the issue of controlling the slow-roll parameters and the role of symmetries in ensuring the stability of the inflaton trajectory. The authors conclude that their model is viable from both theoretical and observational perspectives, with a parametrically small coupling and curvature. The results suggest that the fractional power-law potential yields predictions for the tilt of the spectrum and the tensor-to-scalar ratio that are consistent with current observational data.