Metastability in Emergent Dark Energy: A New Framework Confronting Cosmological Observations

Abstract

We propose the Metastable Emergent Dark Energy (MEDE) model, a novel phenomenological extension of the Phenomenological (PEDE) and Generalized (GEDE) Emergent Dark Energy frameworks, in which dark energy exhibits a transitionary behavior, appearing at late times and vanishing toward the future. This model naturally enables a smooth crossing of the phantom divide line in the dark energy equation of state, as hinted at by recent observations. The MEDE model is defined by a hyperbolic tangent dark energy equation of state $w(z)=-1-\Delta\tanh[\log_{10}((1+z)/(1+z_t))]$, introducing only two free parameters, the transition redshift $z_t$ and the variation amplitude $\Delta$, allowing both the emergent and transitionary behavior of dark energy. We constrain the MEDE model using a combined dataset of Planck CMB, DESI DR2 BAO, and different compilations of Type Ia supernovae, obtaining $z_t=0.425^{+0.084}_{-0.120}$ and $\Delta =0.87^{+0.29}_{-0.35}$ (for CMB+DESI+PantheonPlus), indicating a statistically significant deviation from the cosmological constant. Statistical comparisons show that the MEDE model is preferred over $\Lambda$CDM by the combined dataset, with $\Delta \rm DIC_{ MEDE-\Lambda CDM}= -9.29$. The MEDE model performs comparably to the CPL dynamical dark energy parametrization ($\Delta \rm DIC_{MEDE-CPL} = 0.74$), with no strong statistical distinction from CPL using current data. Notably, MEDE preserves the success of $\Lambda$CDM in describing early-universe physics and naturally accommodates the phantom-crossing signature indicated by the latest low-redshift observations. The MEDE scenario provides a compelling dark energy phenomenology that may guide us toward interesting theoretical implications.