Constraining Quintessence Models with ISW-tSZ Cross-Correlations: A Comparative Analysis of Thawing, Tracker, and Scaling-Freezing Dynamics
Abstract
We present constraints on quintessence dark energy models using the observational detection of the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW)--thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) cross-correlation dataset. Our analysis compares three classes of quintessence dynamics: thawing, tracker, and scaling-freezing with the standard CDM cosmology. Through a comprehensive likelihood analysis, we derive best-fit values and 68\% confidence intervals for key cosmological parameters, finding and for CDM, with deviations in alternative models consistent within . For the thawing model, we consider an exponential potential with slope , while for the tracker and scaling-freezing models, we use inverse axion-like and double exponential potentials, respectively. Observationally, the tracker model yields and , and the scaling-freezing model gives and . The dimensionless tSZ amplitude () and cosmic infrared background (CIB) parameters are tightly constrained across all models, providing additional insights into astrophysical foregrounds. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of ISW--tSZ cross-correlations as a probe of dark energy dynamics, with the Thawing quintessence model yielding the lowest among the tested scenarios, and highlight the need for future high-precision measurements to distinguish between quintessence models and CDM.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2601.17298,
title = {Constraining Quintessence Models with ISW-tSZ Cross-Correlations: A Comparative Analysis of Thawing, Tracker, and Scaling-Freezing Dynamics},
author = {Ayodeji Ibitoye and Shiriny Akthar and Md. Wali Hossain and Amare Abebe and Prabhakar Tiwari and Xuelei Chen and Jackson Said and Jacob Oloketuyi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.17298},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
20 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables, accepted in PRD