Running-mass models of inflation, and their observational constraints

Abstract

If the inflaton sector is described by softly broken supersymmetry, and the inflaton has unsuppressed couplings, the inflaton mass will run strongly with scale. Four types of model are possible. The prediction for the spectral index involves two parameters, while the COBE normalization involves a third, all of them calculable functions of the relevant masses and couplings. A crude estimate is made of the region of parameter space allowed by present observation.

Comments: Latex file, 20 pages, 11 figures, uses epsf.sty. Comment on the observation of the spectral index scale dependence added; Fig. 3-6 improved