Observational challenges to holographic and Ricci dark energy paradigms: Insights from ACT DR6 and DESI DR2

Abstract

Recent studies suggest that dark energy may be dynamical rather than being a mere cosmological constant $\Lambda$. In this work, we examine the viability of two physically well-motivated dynamical dark energy models -- holographic dark energy (HDE) and Ricci dark energy (RDE) -- by confronting them with the latest observational data, including ACT cosmic microwave background anisotropies, DESI baryon acoustic oscillations, and DESY5 supernovae. Our analysis reveals a fundamental tension between early- and late-universe constraints within both frameworks: ACT favors a quintom scenario where the dark energy equation of state evolves from $w>-1$ at early times to $w<-1$ at late times, while DESI+DESY5 exhibits a distinct preference for quintessence where $w>-1$ across cosmic evolution. Critically, the RDE model fails to provide a coherent description of cosmic evolution, as it manifests severe tensions (exceeding $10\sigma$ significance) between early- and late-universe parameter reconstructions. In addition, Bayesian evidence disfavors both models relative to the $\Lambda$CDM model. Our findings statistically exclude the original HDE and RDE models and uncover a severe discrepancy between early- and late-universe observations described by them, leading to the conclusion that the HDE and RDE models can be ruled out by current observational data.