Large Field Inflation in Supergravity

Abstract

We present a supergravity inflationary scenario in which the inflaton field takes values considerably larger than the Planck scale. It is based on a class of inflationary potentials which can be derived from ``singular'' Kaehler potentials assuming simple superpotentials of the type $W\simS^n$. To this class belong, among many others, all potentials which are even infinitesimally smaller than the one derived from the minimal Kaehler potential. Our scenario allows for a detectable gravitational wave contribution to the microwave background anisotropy.