Candidates for the inflaton field in superstring models

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Abstract
We consider the flat directions of the potential that play a crucial role in the four-dimensional supersymmetric models that are believed to emerge from the compactification of superstring theories and study the possibility that they give rise to an inflationary scenario. None of the scalar fields present in these models—in particular the dilaton field connected with supersymmetry breaking and the SU(5)-singlet scalars in the matter sector—seem, however, to be good candidates for the inflaton, the scalar field whose cosmological evolution leads to an inflationary expansion of the Universe.