Published January 9, 2024 | Version v1
Journal article

Unifying the dark sector through a single matter fluid with nonzero pressure

  • 1. Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town, South Africa
  • 2. Cosmology and Gravity Group (CGG), University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town, South Africa
  • 3. South African Astronomical Observatory, Observatory 7925, Cape Town, South Africa
  • 4. Centre for Space Research, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa
  • 5. Università di Camerino, Via Madonna delle Carceri 9, 62032 Camerino, Italy
  • 6. SUNY Polytechnic Institute, 13502 Utica, New York, USA
  • 7. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia, 06123, Perugia, Italy
  • 8. INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, 20121 Milano, Italy
  • 9. NNLOT, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Al-Farabi avenue 71, 050040 Almaty, Kazakhstan

Description

We explore a generalized unified dark energy model that incorporates a nonminimal interaction between a tachyonic fluid and an additional scalar field. Specifically, we require that the second field possesses a vacuum energy, introducing an ineliminable offset due to a symmetry-breaking mechanism. After the transition (occurring as due to the symmetry-breaking mechanism of the second field), the corresponding equation of state (EoS) takes the form of a combination between a generalized Chaplygin gas (GCG) component and a cosmological constant contribution. We reinterpret this outcome by drawing parallels to the so-called Murnaghan EoS, widely-employed in the realm of solid-state physics to characterise fluids that, under external pressure, counteract the pressure's effect. We examine the dynamic behavior of this model and highlight its key distinctions compared to the GCG model. We establish parameter bounds that clarifies the model's evolution across cosmic expansion history, showing that it, precisely, exhibits behavior akin to a logotropic fluid that eventually converges to the ΛCDM model in the early universe, while behaving as a logotropic or Chaplygin gas at intermediate and late times respectively. We explain our findings from a thermodynamic perspective, and determine the small perturbations in the linear regime. At very early times, the growth factor flattens as expected while the main departures occur at late times, where the Murnagham EoS results in a more efficient growth of perturbations. We discuss this deviation in view of current observations and conclude that our model is a suitable alternative to the standard cosmological paradigm, introducing the concept of a matterlike field with nonzero pressure.

Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1103/PhysRevD.109.023510;
Crossref Funder ID
10.13039/501100004561; 10.13039/501100004007;

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Physical Review D
Journal Volume
109
Journal Issue
2
Journal Page Range
15 pgs.
ISSN
1089-4918

Optional Information

Copyright
© 2024 American Physical Society
Contract/Grant/Project number
IRN AP19680128
Notes
Contact Email: peter.dunsby@uct.ac.za; Contact Email: orlando.luongo@unicam.it; Contact Email: marco.muccino@lnf.infn.it; Record automatically processed
Funding organization
Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare