Quintessence from M-Theory

TL;DR

This work analyzes exponential scalar potentials in supergravity and demonstrates a concrete D=4 N=8 non-compact gauged supergravity from M-theory that supports eternal quintessence with P = -{7\over9}\rho. It develops a Delta-parameter framework, linking acceleration to \Delta < -2 and showing how a pure or mixed exponential potential can realize sustained acceleration, including a lift to D=5 de Sitter space. The study provides an explicit higher-dimensional origin via non-compactifications on H^{(3,3)}\times S^1 and discusses implications for dS/CFT and domain-wall/QFT correspondences, while clarifying no-go theorem caveats. Altogether, the paper advances a string/M-theory realizable pathway to quintessence-like cosmologies and clarifies the role of higher-dimensional gaugings in driving acceleration.

Abstract

The status of exponential scalar potentials in supergravity is reviewed, and updated. One version of N=8 D=4 supergravity with a positive exponential potential, obtainable from a `non-compactification' of M-theory, is shown to have an accelerating cosmological solution that realizes `eternal quintessence'. Some implications for a de Sitter version of the domain wall/QFT correspondence are discussed.