Observable chiral gravitational waves from inflation in string theory

We consider gravitational wave production during inflation in type IIB string theory, and the possibility of observable gravitational waves in small field inflation. We show that the gauge field excitations on a set of coincident D7 branes, itself critical for moduli stabilization and hence intrinsic to inflation in string theory, coupled with axion fields from bulk fluxes, can act as a spectator sector during inflation. This results in a large production of chiral gravitational waves, even for relatively small values of the axion-gauge field coupling. We extend this to include a monodromy for the axion, and demonstrate that in both cases an observable level of gravitational waves is produced in small field inflation in string theory, with a spectrum that is maximally chiral. Finally, we demonstrate the consistency with moduli stabilization and with arbitrary (large or small field) inflationary dynamics of the host model, considering as an explicit example Kahler Moduli Inflation.