Single-field inflation after the WMAP five-year data

Single-field models of inflation are analyzed in light of the WMAP five-year data. Assuming instantaneous reheating, we find that modular/new inflation models with small powers in the effective inflaton self-interaction are more strongly constrained than previously. The model with a cubic power lies outside the 2 sigma regime when the number of e-folds is N <= 60. We also find that the predictions for the intermediate model of inflation do not overlap the 1 sigma region regardless of the power of the monomial potential. We analyze a number of ultraviolet, Dirac-Born-Infeld braneworld scenarios involving both wrapped and multiple-brane configurations, where the inflaton kinetic energy is close to the maximum allowed by the warped geometry. In all cases, we find that the parameters of the warped throat are strongly constrained by observations.