Towards an explicit model of large field inflation

Abstract: The unwinding inflation mechanism is studied in a type IIB flux compactification where all moduli are stabilized using flux, non-perturbative effects, and the leading alpha' corrections of the large volume scenario. We consider the backreaction on the geometry due to the presence of anti-D3 branes as well as the backreaction of inflation on the Kaehler moduli, and compute the resulting corrections to the slow-roll potential. By taking large flux numbers, we are able to find inflationary epochs where backreaction effects are under control, the inflaton traverses a super-Planckian field range, and the resulting amplitude of scalar perturbations is consistent with observation.