N=2 supergravity models with stable de Sitter vacua

Abstract

In the present talk I shall review the construction of N=2 supergravity models exhibiting stable de Sitter vacua. These solutions represent the first instance of stable backgrounds with positive cosmological constant in the framework of extended supergravities (N >=2). After briefly reviewing the role of de Sitter space--times in inflationary cosmology, I shall describe the main ingredients which were necessary for the construction of gauged N=2 supergravity models admitting stable solutions of this kind.

Prepared for Workshop on the Quantum Structure of Spacetime and the Geometric Nature of Fundamental Interactions, Leuven, Belgium, September 13-19 2002