# 𝑅-Invariant Topological Inflation

## Abstract

We propose a topological inflation model in the framework of supergravity with $`R`$ invariance. This topological inflation model is not only free from the initial value problem of the inflaton field but also gives low reheating temperature which is favored in supergravity since the overproduction of gravitinos is avoided. Furthermore, the predicted spectrum of the density fluctuations is generally tilted, which will be tested by future observations on CMB anisotropies and large scale structure of the universe.

The topological  and chaotic  inflation models are very attractive among various inflation models considered so far, since they do not suffer from the initial value problem  for an inflaton field $`\phi `$. That is, the inflationary universe is a natural consequence of the system. The chaotic inflation model assumes large initial values $`\phi _01`$, where we set the gravitational scale $`M=2.4\times 10^{18}`$GeV to unity. This is, however, unlikely realized in the framework of supergravity . Thus, we are led to consider the topological inflation model.

Naive models of topological inflation in supergravity (see Ref.) tend to yield anti-de Sitter universe at the end of inflation. To go around this problem, in this paper, we propose a topological inflation model with the $`R`$-invariant vacuum which ensures vanishing cosmological constant at the end of inflation.<sup>*</sup><sup>*</sup>*For $`R`$-invariant models of subjects other than inflation, see Ref.

Let us consider a superpotential

$$W=\mathrm{\Lambda }^2Z(\lambda \lambda ^{}\varphi ^2)=v^2Z(1g\varphi ^2),$$
(1)   
where $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ denotes a scale presumably generated dynamicallyFor example, the scale may arise from a hyperquark condensation $`Q\overline{Q}=\mathrm{\Lambda }^2`$ with the aid of a superpotential considered in Ref.. and $`v^2=\lambda \mathrm{\Lambda }^2`$, $`g=\lambda ^{}/\lambda `$. Here, we impose $`U(1)_R\times Z_2`$ symmetry and omit higher-order terms for simplicity. Under the $`U(1)_R`$ we assume

$$Z(\theta )e^{2i\alpha }Z(\theta e^{i\alpha }),\varphi (\theta )\varphi (\theta e^{i\alpha }).$$
(2)   
We also assume that $`Z`$ is even and $`\varphi `$ is odd under the $`Z_2`$. This discrete $`Z_2`$ symmetry is an essential ingredient for the topological inflation .

The $`R`$\- and $`Z_2`$-invariant natural Kähler potential is given by

$$K(\varphi ,Z)=|Z|^2+|\varphi |^2+k_1|Z|^2|\varphi |^2\frac{k_2}{4}|Z|^4+\mathrm{},$$
(3)   
where $`k_1`$ and $`k_2`$ are constants of order one.

The potential of a scalar component of the superfields $`X(x,\theta )`$ and $`\varphi (x,\theta )`$ in supergravity is given by

$$V=e^K\left\{\left(\frac{^2K}{z_iz_j^{}}\right)^1D_{z_i}WD_{z_j^{}}W^{}3|W|^2\right\},(z_i=\varphi ,Z)$$
(4)   
with 

$$D_{z_i}W=\frac{W}{z_i}+\frac{K}{z_i}W.$$
(5)   
This potential yields an $`R`$-invariant vacuum

$`Z=0,\varphi ={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{g}}}\eta ,`$ (6)   
in which the potential energy vanishes. Here, the scalar components of the superfields are denoted by the same symbols as the corresponding superfields. The inflaton $`\varphi `$ has a mass $`m_\varphi `$ in the vacuum with

$$m_\varphi 2|\sqrt{g}v^2|.$$
(7)   
A topological inflation  may occur if the vacuum expectation value $`\varphi `$ is of the order of the gravitational scale. The initial values of $`\varphi `$ are randomly distributed in spaces owing to the chaotic condition in the early universe. When $`\varphi `$ settles down to the minima of the potential (4), domain walls appear since the $`Z_2`$ symmetry is spontaneously broken in the vacua. The thickness of the domain wall is as large as the horizon size and the false vacuum energy inside the wall causes inflation  if the potential is sufficiently flat for $`|\varphi |1`$. The critical value $`\eta _{\mathrm{cr}}`$ of $`\varphi `$ for which the topological inflation occurs was investigated in Refs.. We adopt the result of Ref. , which gives

$$\eta _{\mathrm{cr}}1.7.$$
(8)   
Thus, for topological inflation to take place, $`|\eta |`$ should be larger than $`\eta _{\mathrm{cr}}`$, which leads to the constraint on $`g`$:

$$\eta _{\mathrm{cr}}|\sqrt{g}|<1.$$
(9)   
Now let us discuss the dynamics of the topological inflation. From eq.(4) the potential for $`|Z|`$ and $`|\varphi |1`$ is written approximately as

$$Vv^4|1g\varphi ^2|^2+(1k_1)v^4|\varphi |^2+k_2v^4|Z|^2.$$
(10)   
Since the $`Z`$ field quickly settles down to the origin for $`k_21`$, we set $`Z=0`$ in eq.(10) assuming $`k_21`$. Note that the $`R`$ symmetry is not broken even during the inflation. For $`g>0`$, we can identify the inflaton field $`\phi (x)/\sqrt{2}`$ with the real part of the field $`\varphi (x)`$ since the imaginary part of $`\varphi `$ has a positive mass with the parameters we use in the following analysis. We obtain a potential for the inflaton,

$$V(\phi )v^4\frac{\kappa }{2}v^4\phi ^2$$
(11)   
where $`\kappa 2g+k_11`$.

The slow-roll condition for the inflaton is satisfied for $`0<\kappa <1`$ and $`\phi <\phi _f`$ where $`\phi _f`$ is of order one, which provides the value of $`\phi `$ at the end of inflation. The Hubble parameter during the inflation is given by

$$H\frac{v^2}{\sqrt{3}}.$$
(12)   
The scale factor of the universe increases by a factor of $`e^N`$ when the inflaton $`\phi `$ rolls slowly down the potential from $`\phi _N`$ to $`\phi _f`$. The $`e`$-fold number $`N`$ is given by

$`N{\displaystyle _{\phi _f}^{\phi _N}}𝑑\phi {\displaystyle \frac{V}{V^{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\kappa }}\mathrm{ln}{\displaystyle \frac{\phi _f}{\phi _N}}.`$ (13)   
The amplitude of primordial density fluctuations $`\delta \rho /\rho `$ due to this inflation is written as

$$\frac{\delta \rho }{\rho }\frac{1}{5\sqrt{3}\pi }\frac{V^{3/2}(\phi _N)}{|V^{}(\phi _N)|}\frac{1}{5\sqrt{3}\pi }\frac{v^2}{\kappa \phi _N}.$$
(14)   
This should be normalized to the data of anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) by the COBE satellite. Since the $`e`$-fold number $`N`$ corresponding to the COBE  scale is about $`60`$, the COBE normalization gives

$$\frac{V^{3/2}(\phi _{60})}{|V^{}(\phi _{60})|}5.3\times 10^4,$$
(15)   
Along with eq.(13), we obtain

$`v2.3\times 10^2\sqrt{\kappa \phi _f}e^{\frac{\kappa N}{2}}1.8\times 10^32.5\times 10^5,`$ (16)   
for $`\phi _f1`$ and $`0.02\kappa 0.2`$.

The interesting point on the above density fluctuations is that it results in the tilted spectrum whose spectrum index $`n_s`$ is given by

$$n_s12\kappa .$$
(17)   
We may expect a possible deviation from the Harrison-Zeldvich scale-invariant spectrum $`n_s=1`$. For example, $`n_s0.8`$ for $`\kappa =0.1`$.

After inflation ends, the inflaton $`\varphi `$ may decay into ordinary particles through $`R`$\- and $`Z_2`$-invariant interactions with the ordinary light fields $`\psi _i`$ in the Kähler potential:

$$K(\varphi ,\psi _i)=c_i|\varphi |^2|\psi _i|^2,$$
(18)   
where $`c_i`$ is a coupling constant of order one and we neglect higher-order terms for simplicity. With these interactions the decay rate $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\varphi `$ of the inflaton is estimated as

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_\varphi \underset{i}{}c_i^2\eta ^2m_\varphi ^3,$$
(19)   
which yields reheating temperature $`T_R`$ given by

$$T_R0.46c\eta m_\varphi ^{3/2},$$
(20)   
where $`c\sqrt{_ic_i^2}`$. Using Eqs.(6) and (7) we obtain

$$m_\varphi 2\frac{v^2}{\eta }.$$
(21)   
Thus, the reheating temperature is estimated as

$$T_R1.4\times 10^{10}\mathrm{GeV}4.0\times 10^4\mathrm{GeV},$$
(22)   
for $`c1`$, $`\eta \eta _{\mathrm{cr}}`$ and $`0.02\kappa 0.2`$ (Fig. 1). The predicted reheating temperature is low enough to avoid overproduction of gravitinos  in a wide range of gravitino mass.

In summary, we have studied how the topological inflation takes place in the framework of supergravity with $`R`$ invariance. The present model has a couple of attractive points. First of all, since the topological inflation naturally occurs for the chaotic condition of the early universe, it is free from the initial value problem of the inflaton field. In other words, the inflation is an automatic consequence of the dynamics of the system. The present model shares the same merit as the new inflation model  in that the reheating temperature is low enough to avoid the overproduction of gravitinos. Furthermore, the predicted spectrum of the density fluctuations are generally tilted because the mass term induced from the Kähler potential is comparable to Hubble parameter during inflation. This tilted spectrum will be tested by future observations on CMB anisotropies and large scale structure of the universe.

Acknoledgement

MK and TY are supported in part by the Grant-in-Aid, Priority Area “Supersymmetry and Unified Theory of Elementary Particles”(#707).