The Limits of Quintessence

Abstract

We present evidence that the simplest particle-physics scalar-field models of dynamical dark energy can be separated into distinct behaviors based on the acceleration or deceleration of the field as it evolves down its potential towards a zero minimum. We show that these models occupy narrow regions in the phase-plane of w and w', the dark energy equation-of-state and its time-derivative in units of the Hubble time. Restricting an energy scale of the dark energy microphysics limits how closely a scalar field can resemble a cosmological constant. These results, indicating a desired measurement resolution of order σ(w')\approx (1+w), define firm targets for observational tests of the physics of dark energy.

4 pages, 2 figures

References in corpus (24)

• The Cosmological Constant and Dark Energy
• Type Ia Supernova Discoveries at z>1 From the Hubble Space Telescope: Evidence for Past Deceleration and Constraints on Dark Energy Evolution
• Cosmological Imprint of an Energy Component with General Equation of State
• Cosmological Constant - the Weight of the Vacuum
• Cosmology and the Fate of Dilatation Symmetry
• Quintessence, Cosmic Coincidence, and the Cosmological Constant
• New Constraints on ${\Omega }_M$, ${\Omega }_{\Lambda }$, and w from an Independent Set of Eleven High-Redshift Supernovae Observed with HST
• Cosmological parameter analysis including SDSS Ly-alpha forest and galaxy bias: constraints on the primordial spectrum of fluctuations, neutrino mass, and dark energy
• Cosmology with Ultra-light Pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone Bosons
• Cosmology with a Primordial Scaling Field
• A classification of scalar field potentials with cosmological scaling solutions
• Quintessence arising from exponential potentials
• Quintessence and Supergravity
• Dynamical Lambda Models of Structure Formation
• Models of dynamical supersymmetry breaking and quintessence
• Dynamical dark energy: Current constraints and forecasts
• Quintessence models in Supergravity
• A Quintessential Axion
• SUSY QCD and Quintessence
• WMAPping inflationary physics
• Observational Bounds on Cosmic Doomsday
• Natural Quintessence with Gauge Coupling Unification
• Distinguishing among Scalar Field Models of Dark Energy
• Is Dark Energy Dynamical? Prospects for an Answer