Prepared for submission to JCAP Constraining Monodromy Inflation

Abstract. We use cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from the 9-year WMAP release to derive constraints on monodromy inflation, which is characterized by a linear inflaton potential with a periodic modulation. We identify two possible periodic modulations that significantly improve the fit, lowering χ2 by approximately 10 and 20. However, standard Bayesian model selection criteria assign roughly equal odds to the modulated potential and the unmodulated case. A modulated inflation-ary potential can generate substantial primordial non-Gaussianity with a specific and characteristic form. For the best-fit parameters to the WMAP angular power spec-trum, the corresponding non-Gaussianity might be detectable in upcoming CMB data, allowing nontrivial consistency checks on the predictions of a modulated inflationary potential. ar X i