2011/06/30 by Sourish Dutta, Robert J. Scherrer
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Astrophysics #Constant (computer programming) #Cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark energy #Equation of state #Evolution equation #Field (mathematics) #Mathematical analysis #Mathematical physics #Mathematics #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Quintessence #Statistical physics #Theoretical and Computational Physics #Thermodynamics #Time evolution #astro-ph.CO #gr-qc #hep-ph #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2011.09.034
published as Phys. Lett. B704 (2011) 265-269 · 6 pages, 5 figures, references added
arxiv created 2011/08/03 · openalex publication_date 2011/09/17 · arxiv updated 2015/05/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We examine the evolution of quintessence models with potentials satisfying (V'/V)2<<1 and V"/V<<1, in the case where the initial field velocity is nonzero. We derive an analytic approximation for the evolution of the equation of state parameter, w, for the quintessence field. We show that such models are characterized by an initial rapid freezing phase, in which the equation of state parameter w decreases with time, followed by slow thawing evolution, for which w increases with time. These models resemble constant-V models at early times but diverge at late times. Our analytic approximation gives results in excellent agreement with exact numerical evolution.