Single field inflation in supergravity with a U(1) gauge symmetry

Abstract

A single field inflation based on a supergravity model with a shift symmetry and U(1) extension of the MSSM is analyzed. We show that one of the real components of the two U(1) charged scalar fields plays the role of inflaton with an effective scalar potential similar to the ''new chaotic inflation'' scenario. Both non-anomalous and anomalous (with Fayet-Iliopoulos term) U(1) are studied. We show that the non-anomalous U(1) scenario is consistent with data of the cosmic microwave background and recent astrophysical measurements. A possible kinetic mixing between U(1) and U(1)B-L is considered in order to allow for natural decay channels of the inflaton, leading to a reheating epoch. Upper limits on the reheating temperature thus turn out to favour an intermediate (∼ (1013) GeV) scale B-L symmetry breaking.