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Main Authors: Murata, Tomoaki, Kobayashi, Tsutomu
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.01773
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author Murata, Tomoaki
Kobayashi, Tsutomu
author_facet Murata, Tomoaki
Kobayashi, Tsutomu
contents We study the extension of the chromo-natural inflation model by incorporating nonminimal coupling between the axion field and gravity. Nonminimal coupling is introduced so that it enhances friction in the axion's equation of motion and thus supports slow-roll inflation. This enhanced friction effectively delays the activation of the gauge field, thereby preventing the overproduction of gravitational waves in the CMB scale. We extend previous results by describing the nonminimal coupling in a general and unifying way utilizing Horndeski gravity. This allows us to explore systematically and comprehensively possible enhanced friction models of chromo-natural inflation consistent with observations. We find a novel enhanced friction model that shows better agreement (within 1$σ$) with CMB measurements than the previous nonminimally coupled chromo-natural inflation model. The gravitational-wave spectrum starts to rise at some wavenumber due to retarded activation of the gauge field in the late stage of inflation. We show how one can identify the wavenumber at which this occurs based on the background evolution and present a universal analytic formula for the gravitational-wave spectrum that can be used for any enhanced friction model of chromo-natural inflation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2408_01773
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Chromo-natural inflation supported by enhanced friction from Horndeski gravity
Murata, Tomoaki
Kobayashi, Tsutomu
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
We study the extension of the chromo-natural inflation model by incorporating nonminimal coupling between the axion field and gravity. Nonminimal coupling is introduced so that it enhances friction in the axion's equation of motion and thus supports slow-roll inflation. This enhanced friction effectively delays the activation of the gauge field, thereby preventing the overproduction of gravitational waves in the CMB scale. We extend previous results by describing the nonminimal coupling in a general and unifying way utilizing Horndeski gravity. This allows us to explore systematically and comprehensively possible enhanced friction models of chromo-natural inflation consistent with observations. We find a novel enhanced friction model that shows better agreement (within 1$σ$) with CMB measurements than the previous nonminimally coupled chromo-natural inflation model. The gravitational-wave spectrum starts to rise at some wavenumber due to retarded activation of the gauge field in the late stage of inflation. We show how one can identify the wavenumber at which this occurs based on the background evolution and present a universal analytic formula for the gravitational-wave spectrum that can be used for any enhanced friction model of chromo-natural inflation.
title Chromo-natural inflation supported by enhanced friction from Horndeski gravity
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.01773