M-theory inflation from multi M5-brane dynamics

2005/01/31 by Katrin Becker, Melanie Becker, Axel Krause · 10 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Brane #Brane cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #D-brane #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Inflation (cosmology) #Inflaton #Instanton #M-theory #Mathematical physics #Moduli #Orbifold #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Supergravity #Supersymmetry #Theoretical physics #hep-th

paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysb.2005.03.011

published as Nucl.Phys.B715:349-371,2005 · 30 pages, 3 figures; v3: one comment and refs added

openalex publication_date 2005/03/31 · arxiv created 2005/04/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We derive inflation from M-theory on S¹/Z₂ via the non-perturbative dynamics of N M5-branes. The open membrane instanton interactions between the M5-branes give rise to exponential potentials which are too steep for inflation individually but lead to inflation when combined together. The resulting type of inflation, known as assisted inflation, facilitates considerably the requirement of having all moduli, except the inflaton, stabilized at the beginning of inflation. During inflation the distances between the M5-branes, which correspond to the inflatons, grow until they reach the size of the S¹/Z₂ orbifold. At this stage the M5-branes will reheat the universe by dissolving into the boundaries through small instanton transitions. Further flux and non-perturbative contributions become important at this late stage, bringing inflation to an end and stabilizing the moduli. We find that with moderate values for N, one obtains both a sufficient amount of e-foldings and the right size for the spectral index.

Citations

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• Holographic cosmology from a system of M2–M5 branes
• Non-minimal M-flation
• M-flation: inflation from matrix valued scalar fields
• Inflation assisted by heterotic axions
• Inflation with multiple sound speeds: A model of multiple DBI type actions and non-Gaussianities
• Inflation from warped space
• On the Superstrings‐Induced Four‐Dimensional Gravity and Its Applications to Cosmology