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We investigate the possibility of observable proton decay within the Improved Missing Doublet Model (IMDM75), which utilizes a Higgs in 75 representation for $SU(5)$ gauge symmetry breaking. The realization of observable proton decay in IMDM75 is made feasible primarily due to chirality nonflipping color triplet mediation, while chirality flipping mediation is adequately suppressed. Our predictions suggest a range of proton lifetime between $10^{34}-10^{36}$ years, which can be observed in upcoming experiments such as Hyper-K and DUNE, for a corresponding range of color-triplet mass parameter $M_T$ in the order of $10^{11}-10^{14}$~GeV. IMDM75 is shown to offer unique predictions for branching ratios when compared to other grand unified theory models. Finally, a realization of successful gauge coupling unification is achieved, even with the presence of particles at intermediate scales., Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures

We investigate supersymmetric hybrid inflation in a realistic model based on the gauge symmetry $SU(4)_c \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R$. The minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) $��$ term arises, following Dvali, Lazarides, and Shafi, from the coupling of the MSSM electroweak doublets to a gauge singlet superfield which plays an essential role in inflation. The primordial monopoles are inflated away by arranging that the $SU(4)_c \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R$ symmetry is broken along the inflationary trajectory. The interplay between the (above) $��$ coupling, the gravitino mass, and the reheating following inflation is discussed in detail. We explore regions of the parameter space that yield gravitino dark matter and observable gravity waves with the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r \sim 10^{-4}-10^{-3}$., 14 pages, 9 figures; version published in Phys. Rev. D

We discuss proton decay in a recently proposed model of supersymmetric hybrid inflation based on the gauge symmetry $SU(4)_c \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R$. A $U(1)\, R$ symmetry plays an essential role in realizing inflation as well as in eliminating some undesirable baryon number violating operators. Proton decay is primarily mediated by a variety of color triplets from chiral superfields, and it lies in the observable range for a range of intermediate scale masses for the triplets. The decay modes include $p \rightarrow e^{+}(\mu^+) + \pi^0$, $p \rightarrow \bar{\nu} + \pi^{+}$, $p \rightarrow K^0 + e^+(\mu^{+})$, and $p \rightarrow K^+ + \bar{\nu}$, with a lifetime estimate of order $10^{34}-10^{36}$ yrs and accessible at Hyper-Kamiokande and future upgrades. The unification at the Grand Unified Theory (GUT) scale $M_{\rm GUT}$ ($\sim 10^{16}$ GeV) of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) gauge couplings is briefly discussed., Comment: Version-2: 20 pages, 7 figures, version published in JHEP

In $��$-hybrid inflation a nonzero inflaton vacuum expectation value induced by supersymmetry breaking is proportional to the gravitino mass $m_{3/2}$, which can be exploited to resolve the minimal supersymmetric standard model $��$ problem. We show how this scenario can be successfully implemented with $m_{3/2} \sim 1-100$ TeV and reheat temperature as low as $10^6$ GeV by employing a minimal renormalizable superpotential coupled with a well defined non-minimal K��hler potential. The tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$, a canonical measure of primordial gravity waves in most cases is less than or of the order of $10^{-6}-10^{-3}$., 19 pages, 6 figures, published version

We reconsider non-minimal ����^4 chaotic inflation which includes the gravitational coupling term ��\mathcal{R} ��^2, where ��denotes a gauge singlet inflaton field and \mathcal{R} is the Ricci scalar. For ��>> 1 we require, following recent discussions, that the energy scale ��^{1/4} m_P / \sqrt�� for inflation should not exceed the effective UV cut-off scale m_P / ��, where m_P denotes the reduced Planck scale. The predictions for the tensor to scalar ratio r and the scalar spectral index n_s are found to lie within the WMAP 1-��bounds for 10^{-12} < ��< 10^{-4} and 10^{-3} < ��< 10^2. In contrast, the corresponding predictions of minimal ����^4 chaotic inflation lie outside the WMAP 2-��bounds. We also find that r > 0.002, provided the scalar spectral index n_s > 0.96. In estimating the lower bound on r we take into account possible modifications due to quantum corrections of the tree level inflationary potential., 10 pages, 6 figures

Minimal supersymmetric hybrid inflation utilizes a canonical Kahler potential and a renormalizable superpotential which is uniquely determined by imposing a U(1) R-symmetry. In computing the scalar spectral index $n_s$ we take into account modifications of the tree level potential caused by radiative and supergravity corrections, as well as contributions from the soft supersymmetry breaking terms with a negative soft mass-squared term allowed for the inflaton. All of these contributions play a role in realizing $n_s$ values in the range 0.96-0.97 preferred by WMAP. The U(1) R-symmetry plays an important role in flipped SU(5) by eliminating the troublesome dimension five proton decay. The proton decays into $e^+ \pi^0$ via dimension six operators arising from the exchange of superheavy gauge bosons with a lifetime of order $10^{34}$-$10^{36}$ years., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures

Several authors have recently argued that a satisfactory inflationary scenario can be implemented in the Standard Model (SM) by introducing a strong non-minimal coupling of the Higgs doublet to gravity. It is shown here that type I seesaw physics containing right handed neutrinos at intermediate scales can have a significant impact on the inflationary predictions of these models. For one such model, values of the scalar spectral index lower than the tree level prediction of 0.968 are realized for plausible values of the seesaw parameters and a SM Higgs boson mass close to 130 GeV. A precise measurement of n_s by PLANCK, as well as measurement of the Higgs boson mass by LHC should provide stringent tests of this SM based inflationary scenario supplemented by type I seesaw physics., 12 pages, 6 figures