Quintessence: a mini-review

Understand

Models where the accelerated expansion of our Universe is caused by a quintessence scalar field are reviewed.

• In the framework of high energy physics, the physical nature of this field is discussed and its interaction with ordinary matter is studied and explicitly calculated.
• It is shown that this coupling is generically too strong to be compatible with local tests of gravity.
• A possible way out, the chameleon effect, is also briefly investigated.