Accelerated expansion of the universe driven by tachyonic matter

TL;DR

This paper presents a method to derive scalar field potentials from the universe's expansion history, demonstrating that tachyonic fields can drive late-time accelerated expansion, offering a string theory perspective on dark energy.

Contribution

It provides a recipe to determine potentials for both normal and tachyonic scalar fields from the expansion factor, highlighting tachyonic fields' role in late-time acceleration.

Findings

Tachyonic fields can produce accelerated expansion in late universe.

A method to reconstruct scalar potentials from expansion history is developed.

Tachyonic condensates may serve as an effective cosmological constant.

Abstract

It is an accepted practice in cosmology to invoke a scalar field with potential $V(\phi)$ when observed evolution of the universe cannot be reconciled with theoretical prejudices. Since one function-degree-of-freedom in the expansion factor $a(t)$ can be traded off for the function $V(\phi)$, it is {\it always} possible to find a scalar field potential which will reproduce a given evolution. I provide a recipe for determining $V(\phi)$ from $a(t)$ in two cases:(i) Normal scalar field with Lagrangian ${\cal L} = (1/2)\partial_a\phi \partial^a\phi - V(\phi)$ used in quintessence/dark energy models. (ii) A tachyonic field with Lagrangian ${\cal L} = -V(\phi) [ 1- \partial_a\phi \partial^a\phi]^{1/2} $, motivated by recent string theoretic results. In the latter case, it is possible to have accelerated expansion of the universe during the late phase in certain cases. This suggests a string theory based interpretation of the current phase of the universe with tachyonic condensate acting as effective cosmological constant.