Dark energy: the current status

por Eugeny Babichev (Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, Munich)

martes 25 abr. 2006 12:00 → 13:00 Europe/Madrid

Sala Seminarios IFIC (Edf. Institutos de Investigación)

The astronomical observations indicate that the expansion of our Universe accelerates. To fit observations, one has to admit that about two thirds of the total energy density of the Universe consist of dark energy: the still unknown component with a negative pressure. I will review the approaches that are currently adopted for the explanation of the acceleration of our Universe. Starting from the basics of cosmology I will briefly touch upon the observational evidence for dark energy. The important part of a talk is devoted to a number of scalar field models of dark energy such as quintessence, k-essence, tachyon, phantom and ghost condensate. Other alternatives to dark energy (e.g. modified gravity) will also be discussed.