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arXiv · 1508.06580

Teleparallel quintessence with a nonminimal coupling to a boundary term

Abstract

We propose a new model in the teleparallel framework where we consider a scalar field nonminimally coupled to both the torsion $T$ and a boundary term given by the divergence of the torsion vector $B=\frac{2}{e}\partial_μ(eT^μ)$. This is inspired by the relation $R=-T+B$ between the Ricci scalar of general relativity and the torsion of teleparallel gravity. This theory in suitable limits incorporates both the nonminimal coupling of a scalar field to torsion, and the nonminimal coupling of a scalar field to the Ricci scalar. We analyse the cosmology of such models, and we perform a dynamical systems analysis on the case when we have only a pure coupling to the boundary term. It is found that the system generically evolves to a late time accelerating attractor solution without requiring any fine tuning of the parameters. A dynamical crossing of the phantom barrier is also shown to be possible.

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BibTeXRIS

Sebastian Bahamonde, Matthew Wright. 2016-04-25. Teleparallel quintessence with a nonminimal coupling to a boundary term. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.92.084034

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