Related papers: Kick it like DESI: PNGB quintessence with a dynami…
I review the dark energy solutions by a very light pseudoscalar called "quintessential axion". For the explicit breaking terms, we consider both the global anomaly U(1)$_{\rm global}\times$SU(2)$_W^2$ and the potential $\Delta V$. At the…
We use a suite of the most recent cosmological observations to test models of dynamical dark energy motivated by quantum gravity. Specifically, we focus on hilltop quintessence scenarios, able to satisfy theoretical constraints from quantum…
A slow-rolling scalar field ($Q\equiv$ Quintessence) with potential energy $V_Q\sim (3\times 10^{-3} {\rm eV})^4$ has been proposed as the origin of accelerating universe at present. We investigate the effective potential of $Q$ in the…
We introduce and study a model designed to simultaneously shed light on the mysteries connected with Baryogenesis, Dark Matter and Dark Energy. The model describes a self-interacting complex axion field whose imaginary part, a pseudo-scalar…
Motivated by some of the recent swampland conjectures, we study a model of dark energy, in which a quintessence axion slowly rolls in a steep potential due to its interactions with a U(1) or an SU(2) gauge field. The gauge fields produced…
In this work, we study a new quintessence model associated with non-Abelian gauge fields, minimally coupled to Einstein gravity. This gauge theory has been recently introduced and studied as an inflationary model, called gauge-flation.…
A nonminimally coupled hybrid dark energy model is introduced. The dark energy evolution is triggered by mass varying neutrinos. Quintessence evolution begins from an initial point, with an insignificant dark energy density, and arrives at…
Recent DESI DR2 observations indicate that dark energy has crossed from phantom to quintessence regime, a behavior known as the quintom-B realization. In this work we constrain dynamical dark energy and modified gravity using the swampland…
Dark energy can be characterized by a canonical scalar field, known as quintessence. Quintessence allows for a dynamical equation of state $-1 \le \omega \le -\frac{1}{3}$. A previous study by Oikonomou and Chatzarakis have shown that a…
The subject of this thesis is cosmological implications of string compactifications understood in a broad sense. In the first half of the thesis, we will begin by reviewing the four-dimensional description of the tree-level perturbative…
Recent analysis of the DESI Collaboration challenges the $\Lambda$-Cold Dark Matter ($\Lambda$CDM) model, suggesting evidence for a dynamic dark energy. These results are obtained in the context of generic parameterizations of the dark…
A zero initial velocity of the axion field is assumed in the conventional misalignment mechanism. We propose an alternative scenario where the initial velocity is nonzero, which may arise from an explicit breaking of the PQ symmetry in the…
We propose a toy model of Dark Energy in which the degrees of freedom currently dominating the energy density of the universe are described by a pseudo-scalar "axion field" linearly coupled to the Pontryagin density, $ \text{tr}(F \wedge…
Tracking quintessence, in a spatially flat and isotropic space-time with a minimally coupled canonical scalar field and an asymptotically inverse power-law potential $V(\varphi)\propto\varphi^{-p}$, $p>0$, as $\varphi\rightarrow0$, is…
We study the vacuum dynamics of pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons (pNGBs) for $SO(N+1) \rightarrow SO(N)$ spontaneous and explicit symmetry breaking. We determine the magnitude of explicit symmetry breaking consistent with an EFT description of…
A phenomenological model of dark energy that tracks the baryonic and cold dark matter at early times but resembles a cosmological constant at late times is explored. In the transition between these two regimes, the dark energy density drops…
We analyze the observational constraints on the model where a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson (pNGB) plays the role of dark energy. The constraints are derived by using the latest Gold set of 182 type Ia supernovae and the CMB shift parameter.…
Combinations of recent cosmological observations, including Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), show hints of a dynamical nature for dark energy. While the data suggest the possibility of the phantom crossing, it is worth…
Quintessence is a canonical scalar field introduced to explain the late-time cosmic acceleration. The cosmological dynamics of quintessence is reviewed, paying particular attention to the evolution of the dark energy equation of state w.…
We present a simple mechanism which can mimic dark energy with an equation of state w < -1 as deduced from the supernova data. We imagine that the universe is accelerating under the control of a quintessence field, which is moving up a very…