Quintessence: a mini-review

Abstract

Models where the accelerated expansion of our Universe is caused by a quintessence scalar field are reviewed. In the framework of high energy physics, the physical nature of this field is discussed and its interaction with ordinary matter is studied and explicitly calculated. It is shown that this coupling is generically too strong to be compatible with local tests of gravity. A possible way out, the chameleon effect, is also briefly investigated.

14 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the 2007 International Symposium on Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics, November 13-15, Taipei, Taiwan, to be published in Modern Physics Lett. May 2008