Supersymmetric B - L inflation near the conformal coupling

We investigate a novel scenario of cosmological inflation in a gauged B L extended minimal supersymmetric Standard Model with R-symmetry. We use a noncanonical Kahler potential and a superpotential, both preserving the R-symmetry to construct a model of slow-roll inflation. The model is controlled by two real parameters: the nonminimal coupling 4 that originates from the Kahler potential, and the breaking scale v of the U(1)B_I, symmetry. We compute the spectrum of the cosmological microwave background radiation and show that the prediction of the model fits well the recent Planck satellite observation for a wide range of the parameter space. We also find that the typical reheating temperature of the model is low enough to avoid the gravitino problem but nevertheless allows sufficient production of the baryon asymmetry if we take into account the effect of resonance enhancement. The model is free from cosmic strings that impose stringent constraints on generic U(1)B_L based scenarios, as in our scenario the U(1)B_I, symmetry is broken from the onset. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.