Supergravity Inflation with Broken Shift Symmetry and Large Tensor-to-Scalar Ratio

Abstract

We propose a class of inflation models with potential V(\phi)=\alpha \phi^n exp(-\beta^m \phi^m). We show that such kind of inflaton potentials can be realized in supergravity theory with a small shift symmetry breaking term in the Kähler potential. We find that the models with (m=1, n=1), (m=1, n=2), (m=2, n=1), and (m=2, n=3/2) can easily accommodate the Planck results. In particular, the tensor-to-scalar ratio is larger than 0.01 in the 1\sigma region. Thus, these models generate the typical large field inflation, and can be tested at the future Planck and QUBIC experiments.

Comments: Revtex4, 14 pages, 4 figures, version in JCAP