Related papers: Observational constraints upon quintessence models…
An alternative to a cosmological constant is quintessence, defined as a slowly-varying scalar field potential V(\phi). If quintessence is observationally significant, an epoch of inflation is beginning at the present epoch, with \phi the…
Asymptotic (late-time) cosmology depends on the asymptotic (infinite-distance) limits of scalar field space in string theory. Such limits feature an exponentially decaying potential $V \sim \exp(- c \phi)$ with corresponding Hubble scale $H…
The potential energy from a time-dependent scalar field provides a possible explanation for the observed cosmic acceleration. In this paper, we investigate how data from supernova and bary acoustic oscillation surveys constrain the possible…
The equation of state of the hypothetical dark energy component, which constitutes about two thirds of the critical density of the universe, may be very different from that of a cosmological constant. Employing a phenomenological model, we…
We show that various scalar field models of dark energy predict degenerate luminosity distance history of the Universe and thus cannot be distinguished by supernovae measurements alone. In particular, models with a vanishing cosmological…
By comparing the results of numerical microlensing simulations to the observed long-term variability of quasars, strong upper limits on the cosmological density of compact objects in the mass range 0.01 to 0.0001 solar masses may be…
A qualitative analysis of a scalar-tensor cosmological model, with an exponential potential for the scalar field, is performed. The phase diagram for the flat case is constructed. It is shown that solutions with an initial and final…
We examine phantom dark energy models derived from a scalar field with a negative kinetic term for which V(phi) approaches infinity asymptotically. All such models can be divided into three classes, corresponding to an equation of state…
A generic class of string theories predicts the existence of light moduli fields, and they are expected to have masses $m_\phi$ comparable to the gravitino mass $m_{3/2}$ which is in a range of $10^{-2}$keV--1GeV in gauge-mediated…
We present a realistic scenario of tracking of scalar fields with varying equation of state. The astrophysical constraints on the evolution of scalar fields in the physical universe are discussed. The nucleosynthesis and the galaxy…
Recent measurements of type Ia supernovae as well as other concordant observations suggest that the expansion of our universe is accelerating. A dark energy component has usually been invoked as the most feasible mechanism for the…
We study interactions of electro-magnetic fields with the curvature tensor of the form $\lambda R_{\mu \nu \alpha \beta}F^{\mu \nu}F^{\alpha \beta}$. Such coupling terms though are invariant under general coordinate transformation and CPT,…
It is demonstrated that any realistic model of quintessence should be based on Supergravity since, when the scalar field is on tracks today, $Q\approx m_{\rm Pl}$. This improves the agreement between theoretical predictions and the current…
We provide a set of theoretical constraints on models in which the Standard Model field content is extended by vector-like fermions and in some cases also by a real scalar singlet. Our approach is based on the study of electroweak vacuum…
We study the cosmological evolution of string/M moduli fields T. We use T-duality to fix the potential and show that the superpotential W is a function of the duality invariant function j(T) only. If W is given as a finite polynomial of j…
We investigate the prospect of constraining scalar field dark energy models using HI 21-cm intensity mapping surveys. We consider a wide class of coupled scalar field dark energy models whose predictions about the background cosmological…
Dark energy models due to a slowly evolving scalar (quintessence) field $\phi$ are studied for various potentials $V(\phi)$ in a universe with negative curvature. The potentials differ in whether they possess a minimum at $\phi=0$ or are…
Cosmological distances inferred from supernova Ia observations constitute the most direct and solid evidence for the recently detected accelerated expansion of the universe. In this contribution, we show some inconsistencies between two of…
We present a comprehensive and gauge invariant treatment of perturbations around cosmological scaling solutions for two canonical scalar fields coupled through a common potential in the early universe, in the presence of neutrinos, photons…
We examine the constraints that can be obtained on standard cold dark matter models from the most currently used data set: CMB anisotropies, type Ia supernovae and the SDSS luminous red galaxies. We also examine how these constraints are…