Inflation fromD−D¯brane annihilation

Abstract

We demonstrate that the initial conditions for inflation are met when a $\mathrm{D}5-\mathrm{D}¯5$ brane annihilates. This scenario uses Sen’s conjecture that a codimension two vortex forms on the worldvolume of the annihilated 5-brane system. Analogous to a “big bang,” when the five branes annihilate, a vortex localized on a 3-brane forms and its false vacuum energy generates an inflationary space-time. We also provide two possible mechanisms for ending inflation via the decay of a metastable vortex, or radiation of the cosmological constant into the bulk space-time.