title: D-term inflation without cosmic strings.
abstract: We present a superstring-inspired version of D-term inflation that does not lead to cosmic string formation and appears to satisfy the current cosmic microwave background constraints. It differs from minimal D-term inflation by a second pair of charged superfields that makes the strings nontopological (semilocal). The strings are also Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield strings, so the scenario is expected to survive supergravity corrections. The second pair of charged superfields arises naturally in several brane and conifold scenarios, but its effect on cosmic string formation had not been noticed so far.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Urrestilla
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Achúcarro
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Davis