Growing Matter

TL;DR

This paper explores how increasing-mass neutrinos can influence cosmic evolution, leading to the universe's accelerated expansion, with the neutrino mass determining dark energy properties.

Contribution

It introduces a model linking growing matter, specifically neutrinos, to the acceleration of the universe, connecting neutrino mass to dark energy characteristics.

Findings

Growing matter halts cosmon evolution around redshift six.

Accelerated expansion is triggered by the appearance of growing matter.

Dark energy density and equation of state are determined by neutrino mass.

Abstract

We investigate quintessence cosmologies with a matter component consisting of particles with an increasing mass. While negligible in early cosmology, the appearance of a growing matter component has stopped the evolution of the cosmon field at a redshift around six. In turn, this has triggered the accelerated expansion of the Universe. We propose to associate growing matter with neutrinos. Then the presently observed dark energy density and its equation of state are determined by the neutrino mass.