Quintessential inflation with a trap and axionic dark matter
  We study a new model of quintessential inflation which is inspired by
supergravity and string theory. The model features a kinetic pole, which gives
rise to the inflationary plateau, and a runaway quintessential tail. We
envisage a coupling between the inflaton and the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) field which
terminates the roll of the runaway inflaton and traps the latter at an enhanced
symmetry point (ESP), thereby breaking the PQ symmetry. The kinetic density of
the inflaton is transferred to the newly created thermal bath of the hot big
bang due to the decay of PQ particles. The model successfully accounts for the
observations of inflation and dark energy without any fine-tuning, while also
resolving the strong CP problem of QCD and generating axionic dark matter,
without isocurvature perturbations. Trapping the inflaton at the ESP ensures
that the model does not suffer from the infamous 5th force problem, which
typically plagues quintessence.
