Natural inflation: Particle physics models, power-law spectra for large-scale structure, and constraints from the Cosmic Background Explorer
Natural inflation: Particle physics models, power-law spectra for large-scale structure, and constraints from the Cosmic Background Explorer
We discuss the particle physics basis for models of natural inflation with pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons and study the consequences for large-scale structure of the nonscale-invariant density fluctuation spectra that arise in natural inflation and other models. A pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson, with a potential of the form $V(\ensuremath{\varphi})={\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{4}[1\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}cos(\frac{\ensuremath{\varphi}}{f})]$, can naturally give …