Structure Formation and the Time Dependence of Quintessence

Abstract

We discuss the influence of dark energy on structure formation, especially the effects on σ_8. Our interest is particularly focused on quintessence models with time-dependent equation of state and non-negligible quintessence component in the early universe. We obtain an analytic expression for σ_8 valid for a large class of dark energy models. We conclude that structure formation is a good indicator for the history of dark energy and use our results to set constraints on quintessence models.

8 pages, 6 eps figures