The Quintom theory of dark energy after DESI DR2

2025/05/30 by Cai, Yifu, Ren, Xin, Qiu, Taotao +2 · 30 citations
#Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO) #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)

paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2505.24732

Abstract

Observations from DESI DR2 are challenging the ΛCDM paradigm by suggesting that the equation-of-state parameter of dark energy evolves across w = -1, a phenomenon known as the Quintom scenario. Inspired by this development, we present a staged review of Quintom cosmology including its theoretical foundations, observational supports, and implications as well as possible extensions. We first trace the historical progression from Einstein's static cosmological constant to modern dynamical dark energy, summarizing recent cosmological constraints that favor an evolving w(z) along time. A key focus is the theoretical no-go theorem for dark energy showing that no single canonical field or perfect fluid model can smoothly cross the w = -1 boundary. We then survey viable Quintom constructions, including two-field models, single-scalar fields with higher derivatives, modified gravity frameworks, and an effective field theory approach that unifies these mechanisms. Possible interactions of Quintom fields with ordinary matter and the potential roles in yielding non-singular universe solutions are discussed.

Citations

• Robust evidence for dynamical dark energy in light of DESI DR2 and joint ACT, SPT, and Planck data
• Study the nature of dynamical dark energy by measuring the CMB polarization rotation angle
• Phantom Crossing with Quintom Models
• Observational challenges to holographic and Ricci dark energy paradigms: Insights from ACT DR6 and DESI DR2
• Resolving the Planck-DESI tension by non-minimally coupled quintessence
• Testing signatures of phantom crossing through full-shape galaxy clustering analysis
• Quintessence and phantoms in light of DESI 2025
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• Cosmic sign-reversal: non-parametric reconstruction of interacting dark energy with DESI DR2
• Revisiting the phenomenologically emergent dark energy model: is non-zero equation of state of dark matter favored by DESI DR2?
• Constraints on Barrow and Tsallis Holographic Dark Energy from DESI DR2 BAO data
• Dynamical Dark Energy from F(R) Gravity Models Unifying Inflation with Dark Energy: Confronting the Latest Observational Data
• Uplifting, Depressing, and Tilting Dark Energy
• Model-independent cosmological inference after the DESI DR2 data with improved inverse distance ladder
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• S-dual Quintessence, the Swampland, and the DESI DR2 Results
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• Modified gravity constraints from the full shape modeling of clustering measurements from DESI 2024
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• Constraints on Redshift-Binned Dark Energy using DESI BAO Data
• Investigating Late-Time Dark Energy and Massive Neutrinos in Light of DESI Y1 BAO
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• Impact of LRG1 and LRG2 in DESI 2024 BAO data on dark energy evolution
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• Cosmological constraints on curved quintessence
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• Teleparallel gravity: from theory to cosmology
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• In the Realm of the Hubble tension - a Review of Solutions
• A multifield tachyon quintom model of dark energy and fate of the universe
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• Dark matter and dark energy interactions: theoretical challenges, cosmological implications and observational signatures
• f(T) teleparallel gravity and cosmology
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• Covariant Galileon
• The galileon as a local modification of gravity
• Dark Energy and the Accelerating Universe
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• Cosmological evolution of a quintom model of dark energy
• Can dark energy evolve to the Phantom?
• Can the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w be less than -1?
• Curvature Quintessence
• Accelerating Universes with Scaling Dark Matter
• Kinetically driven quintessence
• Observational Evidence from Supernovae for an Accelerating Universe and a Cosmological Constant
• A Nonsingular Universe
• Cosmological consequences of a rolling homogeneous scalar field
• A new type of isotropic cosmological models without singularity
• Second-order scalar-tensor field equations in a four-dimensional space

Cited by

• No preference for generalized emergent dark energy from current cosmological data
• Is Dark Energy Dynamical in the DESI Era? A Critical Review
• How Dark Sector Equations of State Govern Interaction Signatures
• Dynamical system analysis of the cosmological phases in Palatini k-essence gravity
• Role of dynamical early dark energy in Hubble tension through warm inflation
• Probing departures from ΛCDM by late-time datasets
• Cosmological constraints on Galileon dark energy with broken shift symmetry
• Late-Time Cosmological Constraints on Kaniadakis Holographic Dark Energy
• Is the ΛCDM Model in Crisis?
• Unified dark fluid with null sound speed as an alternative to phantom dark energy
• Observational challenges to holographic and Ricci dark energy paradigms: Insights from ACT DR6 and DESI DR2
• Lensing amplitude anomaly and varying electron mass alleviate the Hubble and S₈ tensions
• Quintom-like transit universe models in Metric-affine Myrzakulov f(R,T,Q,T_m) gravity
• Resolving the Planck-DESI tension by non-minimally coupled quintessence
• Effective Phantom Divide Crossing with Standard and Negative Quintessence
• Persistent and serious challenge to the ΛCDM throne: Evidence for dynamical dark energy rising from combinations of different types of datasets
• Testing signatures of phantom crossing through full-shape galaxy clustering analysis
• The impact of 2D and 3D BAO measurements on the Cosmic Distance Duality Relation with HII galaxies
• Exotic Dark Matter and the DESI Anomaly
• Topological defects as effective dynamical dark energy
• Interacting Scalar Fields as Dark Energy and Dark Matter in Einstein scalar Gauss Bonnet Gravity
• UV-complete and stable quintom dark energy models in the light of DESI DR2
• Probing Generalized Emergent Dark Energy with DESI DR2
• Reconstructing dark energy with model independent methods after DESI DR2 BAO
• Quintessence and phantoms in light of DESI 2025
• Cosmic sign-reversal: non-parametric reconstruction of interacting dark energy with DESI DR2
• Can an Extra Degree of Freedom in Scalar-Tensor Non-Metricity Gravity Account for the Evolution of the Universe?
• Observational Constraints on Scalar Field--Matter Interaction in Weyl Integrable Spacetime
• Revisiting the phenomenologically emergent dark energy model: is non-zero equation of state of dark matter favored by DESI DR2?
• Constraints on Coupled Dark Energy in the DESI Era

Related

• Quintom Cosmology: Theoretical implications and observations
• A Focused Review of Quintom Cosmology: From Quintom Dark Energy to Quintom Bounce
• A Short Review on Quintom Dark Energy Theory
• The Quintom Model of Dark Energy
• Quintom cosmology and modified gravity after DESI 2024