Crossing the phantom divide without phantom matter

Abstract

A class of braneworld models can lead to phantom-like acceleration of the late universe, but without the need for any phantom matter. In the simplest models, the universe contains only cold dark matter and a cosmological constant. We generalize these models by introducing a quintessence field. The new feature in our models is that quintessence leads to a crossing of the phantom divide, w = -1. This is a purely gravitational effect, and there is no phantom instability. Furthermore, the Hubble parameter is always decreasing, and there is no big rip singularity in the future. © IOP Publishing Ltd.