Axion Monodromy Inflation, Trapping Mechanisms and the Swampland
  We study the effects of particle production on the evolution of the inflaton
field in an axion monodromy model with the goal of discovering in which
situations the resulting dynamics will be consistent with the {\it swampland
constraints}. In the presence of a modulated potential the evolving background
field (solution of the inflaton homogeneous in space) induces the production of
long wavelength inflaton fluctuation modes. However, this either has a
negligible effect on the inflaton dynamics (if the field spacing between local
minima of the modulated potential is large), or else it traps the inflaton in a
local minimum and leads to a graceful exit problem. On the other hand, the
production of moduli fields at enhanced symmetry points can lead to a
realization of {\it trapped inflation} consistent with the swampland
constraints, as long as the coupling between the inflaton and the moduli fields
is sufficiently large.
