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 understanding the nature of dark energy. We review the observational evidence for the current accelerated expansion of the universe and present a number of dark energy models in addition to the conventional cosmological constant, paying particular attention to scalar field models such as quintessence, K-essence, tachyon, phantom and dilatonic models. The importance of cosmological scaling solutions is emphasized when studying the dynamical system of scalar fields including coupled dark energy. We study the evolution of cosmological perturbations allowing us to confront them with the observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background and Large Scale Structure and demonstrate how it is possible in principle to reconstruct the equation of state of dark energy by also using Supernovae Ia observational data. We also discuss in detail the nature of tracking solutions in cosmology, particle physics and braneworld models of dark energy, the nature of possible future singularities, the effect of higher order curvature terms to avoid a Big Rip singularity, and approaches to modifying gravity which leads to a late-time accelerated expansion without recourse to a new form of dark energy.

Dynamics of dark energy

Modified gravity theories have received increased attention lately due to combined motivation coming from high-energy physics, cosmology, and astrophysics. Among numerous alternatives to Einstein's theory of gravity, theories that include higher-order curvature invariants, and specifically the particular class of $f(R)$ theories, have a long history. In the last five years there has been a new stimulus for their study, leading to a number of interesting results. Here $f(R)$ theories of gravity are reviewed in an attempt to comprehensively present their most important aspects and cover the largest possible portion of the relevant literature. All known formalisms are presented---metric, Palatini, and metric affine---and the following topics are discussed: motivation; actions, field equations, and theoretical aspects; equivalence with other theories; cosmological aspects and constraints; viability criteria; and astrophysical applications.

f ( R ) theories of gravity

Modified Gravity and Cosmology

Over the past decade, f(R) theories have been extensively studied as one of the simplest modifications to General Relativity. In this article we review various applications of f(R) theories to cosmology and gravity - such as inflation, dark energy, local gravity constraints, cosmological perturbations, and spherically symmetric solutions in weak and strong gravitational backgrounds. We present a number of ways to distinguish those theories from General Relativity observationally and experimentally. We also discuss the extension to other modified gravity theories such as Brans-Dicke theory and Gauss-Bonnet gravity, and address models that can satisfy both cosmological and local gravity constraints.

f(R) theories

Extended Theories of Gravity

Corrections to Einstein's equations that become important at small curvatures are considered. The field equations are derived using a Palatini variation in which the connection and metric are varied independently. In contrast with the Einstein-Hilbert variation, which yields fourth order equations, the Palatini approach produces second order equations in the metric. The Lagrangian $L(R)=R\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\alpha}}^{2}/R$ is examined and it is shown that it leads to equations whose solutions approach a de Sitter universe at late times. Thus, the inclusion of $1/R$ curvature terms in the gravitational action offers an alternative explanation for the cosmological acceleration.

1 / R curvature corrections as the source of the cosmological acceleration

The field equations associated with the Born-Infeld-Einstein action are derived using the Palatini variational technique. In this approach the metric and connection are varied independently and the Ricci tensor is generally not symmetric. For sufficiently small curvatures the resulting field equations can be divided into two sets. One set, involving the antisymmetric part of the Ricci tensor ${R}_{{}_{\ensuremath{\vee}}^{\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\nu}}},$ consists of the field equation for a massive vector field. The other set consists of the Einstein field equations with an energy momentum tensor for the vector field plus additional corrections. In a vacuum with ${R}_{{}_{\ensuremath{\vee}}^{\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\nu}}}=0$ the field equations are shown to be the usual Einstein vacuum equations. This extends the universality of the vacuum Einstein equations, discussed by Ferraris et al., to the Born-Infeld-Einstein action. In the simplest version of the theory there is a single coupling constant and by requiring that the Einstein field equations hold to a good approximation in neutron stars it is shown that mass of the vector field exceeds the lower bound on the mass of the photon. Thus, in this case the vector field cannot represent the electromagnetic field and would describe a new geometrical field. In a more general version in which the symmetric and antisymmetric parts of the Ricci tensor have different coupling constants it is possible to satisfy all of the observational constraints if the antisymmetric coupling is much larger than the symmetric coupling. In this case the antisymmetric part of the Ricci tensor can describe the electromagnetic field.

Palatini approach to Born-Infeld-Einstein theory and a geometric description of electrodynamics

Anisotropic cosmological spacetimes are constructed from spherically symmetric solutions to Einstein's equations coupled to nonlinear electrodynamics and a positive cosmological constant. This is accomplished by finding solutions in which the roles of r and t are interchanged for all r > 0 (i.e. r becomes timelike and t becomes spacelike). Constant time hypersurfaces have topology R× S2 and in all the spacetimes considered the radius of the two sphere vanishes as t goes to zero. The scale factor of the other dimension diverges as t goes to zero in some solutions and vanishes (or goes to a constant) in other solutions. At late times local observers would see the universe to be homogeneous and isotropic.

LETTER Anisotropic Born-Infeld Cosmologies

In quantum field theory there exist states in which the energy density is negative. It is important that these negative energy densities satisfy constraints, such as quantum inequalities, to minimize possible violations of causality, the second law of thermodynamics, and cosmic censorship. In this paper I show that conformally invariant scalar and Dirac fields satisfy quantum inequalities in two-dimensional spacetimes with a conformal factor that depends on x only or on t only. These inequalities are then applied to two-dimensional black hole and cosmological spacetimes. It is shown that for static observers the bound on the negative energies diverges to minus infinity as the event horizon or initial singularity is approached. Thus, neglecting back reaction, the negative energies measured by static observers become unconstrained near the horizon or initial singularity. The results of this paper also support the hypothesis that the quantum interest conjecture applies only to deviations from the vacuum polarization energy, not to the total energy.

Quantum inequalities in curved two-dimensional spacetimes

It has recently been proposed that our universe is a three-brane embedded in a higher dimensional spacetime Here I show that black holes on the brane, black strings intersecting the brane, and gravitational waves propagating in the bulk induce an effective energy-momentum tensor on the brane that contains negative energy densities

Dan N. Vollick

Papers

1 / R curvature corrections as the source of the cosmological acceleration

Palatini approach to Born-Infeld-Einstein theory and a geometric description of electrodynamics

LETTER Anisotropic Born-Infeld Cosmologies

Quantum inequalities in curved two-dimensional spacetimes

Negative Energies on the Brane