Can CMB data constrain the inflationary field range?

Abstract

We study to what extent the spectral index ns and the tensor-to-scalar ratio r determine the field excursion Δφ during inflation. We analyse the possible degeneracy of Δφ by comparing three broad classes of inflationary models, with different dependence on the number of e-foldings N, to benchmark models of chaotic inflation with monomial potentials. The classes discussed cover a large set of inflationary single field models. We find that the field range is not uniquely determined for any value of (ns, r); one can have the same predictions as chaotic inflation and a very different Δ φ. Intriguingly, we find that the field range cannot exceed an upper bound that appears in different classes of models. Finally, Δ φ can even become sub-Planckian, but this requires to go beyond the single-field slow-roll paradigm.