A Monodromy from London

Abstract

We focus on the massive gauge theory formulation of axion monodromy inflation. We argue that a gauge symmetry hidden in these models is the key protection mechanism from dangerous corrections from both field theory and gravitational dynamics. The effective theory of large field inflation is a dual to a massive U(1) 4-form gauge theory, which is similar to a massive gauge theory description of superconductivity. The gauge theory explicitly realizes the old Julia-Toulouse proposal for a low energy description of a gauge theory in a defect condensate. While we work mostly with the example of quadratic axion potential induced by flux monodromy, we discuss how other types of potentials can arise from inclusion of gauge invariant corrections to the theory.

29 pages; v2 -- references added, typos corrected, minor prose changes for clarity

References in corpus (13)

• Monodromy in the CMB: Gravity Waves and String Inflation
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Cited by in corpus (22)

• The Large-Misalignment Mechanism for the Formation of Compact Axion Structures: Signatures from the QCD Axion to Fuzzy Dark Matter
• Do We Live in the Swampland?
• Photon Masses in the Landscape and the Swampland
• Very Hairy Inflation
• Pure Natural Inflation
• An Axion-induced SM/MSSM Higgs Landscape and the Weak Gravity Conjecture
• The Structure of the Oscillon: The Dynamics of Attractive Self-Interaction
• Cosmic Birefringence from Monodromic Axion Dark Energy
• Monodromy inflation at strong coupling: $4\pi$ in the sky
• Rollercoaster Cosmology
• Strongly Coupled Quintessence
• Emergent discrete 3-form symmetry and domain walls
• A Goldilocks Higgs
• Tensor Modes in Pure Natural Inflation
• Topological couplings in higher derivative extensions of supersymmetric three-form gauge theories
• Inflation as an Information Bottleneck - A strategy for identifying universality classes and making robust predictions
• A natural theory of dark energy
• Reviving chaotic inflation with fermion production: a supergravity model
• Dark photon dark matter from flattened axion potentials
• CMB constraints on monodromy inflation at strong coupling
• A Quantal Theory of Restoration of Strong CP Symmetry
• Very-High-Frequency Gravitational Waves from Multi-Monodromy Inflation