Related papers: Observational Consequences of Dark Energy Decay
Many candidate models for dark energy are based on the existence of a classical scalar field. In the context of Quantum Field Theory (QFT), we briefly discus the condensation of such a field from a light quantum scalar field produced by…
The accelerated expansion of the Universe is one of the main discoveries of the past decades, indicating the presence of an unknown component: the dark energy. Evidence of its presence is being gathered by a succession of observational…
Cosmological first order phase transitions are typically associated with physics beyond the Standard Model, and thus of great theoretical and observational interest. Models of phase transitions where the energy is mostly converted to dark…
A first-order phase transition could occur in the late universe when vacuum energy begins dominating the energy density ($z \lesssim 0.3$) and convert some latent heat into other forms such as invisible radiation. This generic possibility…
We revisit the proposal that an energy transfer from dark energy into dark matter can be described in field theory by a first order phase transition. We analyze the model proposed in Ref. Abdalla et al. (2013), using updated constraints on…
In this paper we review in detail a number of approaches that have been adopted to try and explain the remarkable observation of our accelerating Universe. In particular we discuss the arguments for and recent progress made towards…
A huge amount of good quality data converges towards the picture of a spatially flat universe undergoing the today observed phase of accelerated expansion. This new observational trend is commonly addressed as Precision Cosmology. Despite…
Constantly accumulating observational data continue to confirm that about 70% of the energy density today consists of dark energy responsible for the accelerated expansion of the Universe. We present recent observational bounds on dark…
Non-negligible dark energy density at high redshifts would indicate dark energy physics distinct from a cosmological constant or ``reasonable'' canonical scalar fields. Such dark energy can be constrained tightly through investigation of…
The two most popular candidates for dark energy, i.e. a cosmological constant and quintessence, are very difficult to distinguish observationally, mostly because the quintessence field does not have sizable fluctuations. We study a scalar…
Simple models are constructed for "acceleressence" dark energy: the latent heat of a phase transition occurring in a hidden sector governed by the seesaw mass scale v^2/M_Pl, where v is the electroweak scale and M_Pl the gravitational mass…
The fact that the energy densities of dark energy and matter are similar currently, known as the coincidence problem, is one of the main unsolved problems of cosmology. We present here a model in which a spatial curvature of the universe…
The high-quality cosmological data, which became available in the last decade, have thrusted upon us a rather preposterous composition for the universe which poses one of the greatest challenges theoretical physics has ever faced: the…
In the context of a homogeneous and isotropic universe, we consider the degeneracy condition at the background level between two scenarios in which processes out of equilibrium are possible; this consideration allows us to deviate from the…
We uncover the general mechanism producing the dark energy(DE). This is only based on well known quantum physics and cosmology. We show that the observed DE originates from the cosmological quantum vacuum of light particles which provides a…
Some issues of the cosmological constant or dark energy are briefly reviewed. There are an increasing number of observations that constrain the equation of state of dark energy more stringently and favor the time-independent cosmological…
We present a novel source of dark energy, which is motivated by the prevalence of hidden sectors in string theory models and is consistent with all of the proposed swampland conjectures. Thermal effects hold a light hidden sector scalar at…
Dark energy, the enigmatic force driving the accelerated cosmic expansion of the universe, is conventionally described as a cosmological constant in the standard $\Lambda$CDM model. However, measurements from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic…
We discuss the thermodynamic and dynamical properties of a variable dark energy model with density scaling as $\rho_x \propto (1+z)^{m}$, z being the redshift. These models lead to the creation/disruption of matter and radiation, which…
Dark energy is usually parametrized as a perfect fluid with negative pressure and a certain equation of state. Besides, it is supposed to interact very weakly with the rest of the components of the universe and, as a consequence, there is…