Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: In the so-called natural inflation, an axion-like inflaton is assumed to have a cosine-type periodic potential. This is not the case in a very simple model in which the axion-like inflaton is coupled to an SU( N ) (or other) pure Yang–Mills, at least in the large N limit as pointed out by Witten. It has a multi-valued potential, which is effectively quadratic, i.e., there is only a mass term in the large N limit. Thanks to this property, chaotic inflation can be realized more naturally with the decay constant of the axion-like inflaton less than the Planck scale. We demonstrate these points explicitly by using softly broken =1 Super-Yang-Mills which allows us to treat finite N . This analysis also suggests that moderately large gauge groups such as E 8 are good enough with a Planck scale decay constant.
Author: Kazuya Yonekura
Institution: Institute for Advanced Study
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,290
Funder: National Science Foundation
Award: Theoretical Physics
OpenAlex ID: W2158970144