  We propose a scenario for inflation based upon the braneworld picture, in
which high-energy corrections to the Friedmann equation permit inflation to
take place with potentials ordinarily too steep to sustain it. Inflation ends
when the braneworld corrections begin to lose their dominance. Reheating may
naturally be brought about via gravitational particle production, rather than
the usual inflaton decay mechanism; the reheat temperature may be low enough to
satisfy the gravitino bound and the Universe becomes radiation dominated early
enough for nucleosynthesis. We illustrate the idea by considering steep
exponential potentials, and show they can give satisfactory density
perturbations (both amplitude and slope) and reheat successfully. The scalar
field may survive to the present epoch without violating observational bounds,
and could be invoked in the quintessential inflation scenario of Peebles and
Vilenkin.
