Could the next generation of cosmology experiments exclude supergravity?

Abstract

Gravitinos are expected to be produced in any local supersymmetric model. Using their abundance prediction as a function of the reheating energy scale, it is argued that the next generation of Cosmic Microwave Background experiments could exclude supergravity or strongly favor "thermal-like" inflation models if B mode polarized radiation were detected. Galactic cosmic--ray production by evaporating primordial black holes is also investigated as a way of constraining the Hubble mass at the end of inflation. Subsequent limits on the gravitino mass and on the related grand unification parameters are derived.

Comments: 8 pages, 5 figures, published version with minor changes, results unchanged