Non-Minimal RT Coupling and its Impact on Inflationary Evolution in f(R, T) Gravity

Abstract

We examine inflationary models in the $f(R, T)$ gravity framework where we have a conformal constant and an $RT$-mixing term apart from an R term. The RT-mixing term introduces non-minimal coupling between gravity and matter. We consider the exponential SUSY potential $V(\p)=M^4 \lt(1-e^{-\l \p/\mp}\rt)$ and a novel potential $V(\p)=\l \mp^{4-2\a} \p^{2\a} \sin^2\lt(\frac{\b \mp^\a}{\p^\a}\rt)$. With the help of COBE normalization, we constrain values of different parameters and extract the field value at the time of Hubble crossing. The end of inflation is marked by $\tep(\p_i)=1$ where $\p_i$ is the field value at the end of inflation. Equipped with these values, we then move on to calculate values of spectral index $n_s$ and tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$. Our predicted values of $n_s$ and $r$ fall within their observed values from the Planck 2018 survey and BICEP/Keck array measurement for both potential, making them plausible candidates for the inflationary model. We also display the variation of the tensor-to-scalar ratio and spectral index with the coefficient of RT-mixing term for fixed values of e-fold number. There, we find the existence of two local maxima of $n_s$, which occur at a negative and a positive value of $\x$, the coefficient of $RT$-mixing term. Our analysis finds a significant impact of $\x$ on values of observables