Symmetry-Driven k-Essence Cosmological Dynamics
Abstract
We investigate a family of k-essence cosmological models selected by the requirement that the field equations admit a nontrivial variational symmetry. Inside this general family of theories, we concentrate on the simplest modification to quintessence, induced by power-law terms of the kinetic energy. The symmetry generator introduces a conservation law which we use to obtain an exact vacuum solution. We generalize our analysis and investigate the structure of the phase-space of the cosmological field equations by performing a dynamical systems analysis, both in the absence and the presence of a pressureless matter source. We employ Hubble-normalized variables and the Poincaré compactification, so as to determine the asymptotic behavior of the model and identify all admissible cosmological epochs, from early-time to late-time behavior. We discuss in detail the existence and stability conditions of each fixed point as functions of the free parameters, and characterize the full asymptotic structure of the cosmological history as provided by this symmetry-driven k-essence model. We explore the conditions under which the model can describe cosmic acceleration. We find that this k-essence model successfully describes the inflationary epoch with a natural exit to the matter-dominated era, with the inflaton ultimately evolving to a dark matter source.
Related
- A Starobinsky-like Potential in k-Essence Framework: Attractor Dynamics, Reheating, and Consistency with ACT DR6
- Cosmological vacuum selection in dynamical symmetry breaking at zero vacuum energy
- Twin Universes and Bimetric Gravity: From Sakharov's Cosmological Symmetry to Modern Speculations on Negative Mass
- Cosmological implications for hairy black holes via spontaneous symmetry breaking: Are Hairy Black Holes Primordial?
- Breaking de Sitter Symmetry with Cosmic Topology: Cosmological Role of Infrared Vacuum Freedom
BibTeX
@misc{lueizacolipi2026symmetrydriven,
title = {{Symmetry-Driven $k$-Essence Cosmological Dynamics}},
author = {Andrés Lueiza-Colipí and Nikolaos Dimakis and Genly Leon and Andronikos Paliathanasis},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.18790},
eprint = {2609.18790},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.18790},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Symmetry-Driven k-Essence Cosmological Dynamics
AU - Andrés Lueiza-Colipí
AU - Nikolaos Dimakis
AU - Genly Leon
AU - Andronikos Paliathanasis
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.18790
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.18790
AB - We investigate a family of k-essence cosmological models selected by the requirement that the field equations admit a nontrivial variational symmetry. Inside this general family of theories, we concentrate on the simplest modification to quintessence, induced by power-law terms of the kinetic energy. The symmetry generator introduces a conservation law which we use to obtain an exact vacuum solution. We generalize our analysis and investigate the structure of the phase-space of the cosmological field equations by performing a dynamical systems analysis, both in the absence and the presence of a pressureless matter source. We employ Hubble-normalized variables and the Poincaré compactification, so as to determine the asymptotic behavior of the model and identify all admissible cosmological epochs, from early-time to late-time behavior. We discuss in detail the existence and stability conditions of each fixed point as functions of the free parameters, and characterize the full asymptotic structure of the cosmological history as provided by this symmetry-driven k-essence model. We explore the conditions under which the model can describe cosmic acceleration. We find that this k-essence model successfully describes the inflationary epoch with a natural exit to the matter-dominated era, with the inflaton ultimately evolving to a dark matter source.
ER -