Recent progress on inflation and dark energy from string theory
TLDR
This review explores recent string theory models for inflation and dark energy, focusing on Kaehler modulus inflation and axion quintessence.
Key contributions
- Reviews string theory models for early (inflation) and late (dark energy) time cosmology.
- Details Kaehler modulus inflation driven by an effective and approximate shift symmetry.
- Explains reheating via modulus decay, leading to axionic dark radiation production.
- Compares de Sitter vacua and quintessence, presenting an axion hilltop quintessence model.
Why it matters
This paper provides a comprehensive overview of string theory's role in addressing fundamental cosmological puzzles like inflation and dark energy. It highlights progress in model building and the challenges in constructing controlled dynamical dark energy models.
Original Abstract
We review recent progress in string model building in both early and late time cosmology. We describe the main theoretical and phenomenological features of an entire class of inflationary models where inflation is driven by a type IIB Kaehler modulus which enjoys an effective and approximate shift symmetry. We illustrate how reheating can occur via the perturbative decay of the modulus into visible and hidden sector degrees of freedom, paying particular attention to the associated production of axionic dark radiation. We quickly discuss the status of de Sitter vacua versus quintessence model building in string theory, analysing the level of control of these constructions and the main challenges faced by models of dynamical dark energy. We finally present a working model of axion hilltop quintessence in string theory, stressing the importance of initial conditions.
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