Winfried Zimdahl

Holographic dark energy and cosmic coincidence

In this Letter we demonstrate that any interaction of pressureless dark matter with holographic dark energy, whose infrared cutoff is set by the Hubble scale, implies a constant ratio of the energy densities of both components thus solving the coincidence problem. The equation of state parameter is obtained as a function of the interaction strength. For a variable degree of saturation of the holographic bound the energy density ratio becomes time dependent which is compatible with a transition from decelerated to accelerated expansion.

Interacting quintessence solution to the coincidence problem

We show that a suitable interaction between a scalar field and a matter fluid in a spatially homogeneous and isotropic spacetime can drive the transition from a matter dominated era to an accelerated expansion phase and simultaneously solve the coincidence problem of our present Universe. For this purpose we study the evolution of the energy density ratio of these two components. We demonstrate that a stationary attractor solution is compatible with an accelerated expansion of the Universe. We extend this study to account for dissipation effects due to interactions in the dark matter fluid. Finally, type Ia supernovae and primordial nucleosynthesis data are used to constrain the parameters of the model.

Letter: Statefinder Parameters for Interacting Dark Energy

We argue that the recently introduced “statefinder parameters” (Sahni et al., JETP Lett. 77, 201 (2003)), that include the third derivative of the cosmic scale factor, are useful tools to characterize interacting quintessence models. We specify the statefinder parameters for two classes of models that solve, or at least alleviate, the coincidence problem.

INTERACTING DARK ENERGY AND COSMOLOGICAL EQUATIONS OF STATE

Interactions within the cosmic medium modify its equation of state. We discuss implications of interacting dark energy models both for the spatially homogenous background and for the perturbation dynamics.

Curvature force and dark energy

A curvature self-interaction of the cosmic gas is shown to mimic a cosmological constant or other forms of dark energy, such as a rolling tachyon condensate or a Chaplygin gas. Any given Hubble rate and deceleration parameter can be traced back to the action of an effective curvature force on the gas particles. This force self-consistently reacts back on the cosmological dynamics. The links between an imperfect fluid description, a kinetic description with effective antifriction forces and curvature forces, which represent a non-minimal coupling of gravity to matter, are established.

Cosmological particle production, causal thermodynamics, and inflationary expansion

Combining the equivalence between cosmological particle creation and an effective viscous fluid pressure with the fact that the latter represents a dynamical degree of freedom within the second-order Israel-Stewart theory for imperfect fluids, we reconsider the possibility of accelerated expansion in fluid cosmology. We find an inherent self-limitation for the magnitude of an effective bulk pressure which is due to adiabatic (isentropic) particle production. For a production rate which depends quadratically on the Hubble rate we confirm the existence of solutions which describe a smooth transition from inflationary to noninflationary behavior and discuss their interpretation within the model of a decaying vacuum energy density. An alternative formulation of the effective imperfect fluid dynamics in terms of a minimally coupled scalar field is given. The corresponding potential is discussed and an entropy equivalent for the scalar field is found.

Chaplygin gas with non-adiabatic pressure perturbations

Perturbations in a Chaplygin gas, characterized by an equation of state p = −A/ρ, may acquire non-adiabatic contributions if spatial variations of the parameter A are admitted. This feature is shown to be related to a specific internal structure of the Chaplygin gas. We investigate how perturbations of this type modify the adiabatic sound speed and influence the time dependence of the gravitational potential which gives rise to the integrated Sachs–Wolfe effect in the anisotropy spectrum of the cosmic microwave background.

Cosmology with adiabatic matter creation

Abstract The influence of matter creation processes on the dynamics of the early universe is investigated within a phenomenological approach. By using a balance law for the particle number in addition to the familiar relations for viscous fluid cosmologies the whole dynamics is given explicitly in terms of the particle production rate. We argue that a sufficiently high particle production rate gives rise to an inflationary behaviour with finite values of temperature and density at the beginning of the hydrodynamic period of the universe.

Letter: Exact Solutions for the Interacting Tachyonic–Dark Matter System

We find exact solutions leading to power law accelerated expansion for a homogeneous, isotropic and spatially flat universe, dominated by an interacting mixture of cold dark matter and a tachyonic field such that the ratio of the energy densities of both components at late times is constant and no coincidence problem arises.

Dark matter and dissipation

Abstract It is argued that there may well exist a non-negligible dissipative bulk stress on a cosmological scale which can be ascribed to the presence of dark matter. As a byproduct the constraint 2 q 0 0 is obtained.