One-loop Pfaffians and large-field inflation in string theory

Abstract

We study the consistency of large-field inflation in low-energy effective field theories of string theory. In particular, we focus on the stability of Kähler moduli in the particularly interesting case where the non-perturbative superpotential of the Kähler sector explicitly depends on the inflaton field. This situation arises generically due to one-loop corrections to the instanton action. The field dependence of the modulus potential feeds back into the inflationary dynamics, potentially impairing slow roll. We distinguish between world-sheet instantons from Euclidean D-branes, which typically yield polynomial one-loop Pfaffians, and gaugino condensates, which can yield exponential or periodic corrections. In all scenarios successful slow-roll inflation imposes bounds on the magnitude of the one-loop correction, corresponding to constraints on possible compactifications. While we put a certain emphasis on Type IIB constructions with mobile D7-branes, our results seem to apply more generally.

12 pages, 8 figures, minor changes, references added

References in corpus (6)

• Spacetime Instanton Corrections in 4D String Vacua - The Seesaw Mechanism for D-Brane Models
• D7-Brane Chaotic Inflation
• Axion Inflation in Type II String Theory
• D7-Brane Moduli Space in Axion Monodromy and Fluxbrane Inflation
• The Inflaton as a MSSM Higgs and Open String Modulus Monodromy Inflation
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• Flux Flattening in Axion Monodromy Inflation