T-Model Higgs Inflation and Metastable Cosmic Strings

Abstract: We present the formation of metastable cosmic strings (CSs) in the context of a supersymmetric (SUSY) left-right model. The SU(2)R symmetry breaking occurs during a stage of T-model (Higgs) inflation (TI) driven by an SU(2)R triplet superfield which inflates away the produced monopoles. The subsequent breaking of the remaining U(1)R x U(1)B-L symmetry, triggered due to an instability arising in the system of a pair of SU(2)R doublet superfields, leads to the production of CSs. TI is based on a quartic potential, is consistent with data thanks to the adopted hyperbolic Kaehler geometry and may be followed by successful non-thermal leptogenesis. The decay of produced CSs interprets the recent observations from PTA experiments on the stochastic background of gravitational waves with values of the superpotential coupling constants close to 10^-6-10^-8 and symmetry-breaking scales a little lower than the SUSY grand unified theory scale. A solution to the mu problem of the MSSM is also accommodated provided that mu is two to three orders of magnitude lower than the gravitino mass. The issue of the gauge coupling unification is also discussed.