Loop Corrections to Scalar Quintessence Potentials

Abstract

The stability of scalar quintessence potentials under quantum fluctuations is investigated for both uncoupled models and models with a coupling to fermions. We find that uncoupled models are usually stable in the late universe. However, the coupling to fermions is severely restricted. We check whether a graviton induced fermion-quintessence coupling is compatible with this restriction.

Comments: 8 pages, 5 figures; Added comment on Weyl scaling, added references, minor grammatical corrections