Analysis of f(R, T) Inflationary Models and Their Response to Planck Data

Abstract

We consider the f(R, T) theory of gravity, in which f(R, T) has a linear functional form where R is the Ricci scalar and T is the trace of the energy-momentum tensor. Next, we analyze the effect of T on the cosmological observable parameters, such as scalar spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio framing inflationary models with four distinct but well-known potentials. The potentials that have been used are Coleman-Weinberg potential, radiative potential, K¨ahler Moduli potential, and exponential SUSY potential. We observe that even the amendment of T fails to provide any fruitful impact to make the model framed with Coleman-Weinberg potential a viable phenomenological model. On the other hand, in the models framed with the other three potentials, the cosmological observable parameters agree appreciably more with the recent Planck predictions compared to the scenario where T is not taken into consideration.