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  • Open Access

Monodromic dark energy and DESI

Samuel Goldstein1,2,*, Marco Celoria3,†, and Fabian Schmidt2,‡

  • *Contact author: sjg2215@columbia.edu
  • †Contact author: m.celoria@cineca.it
  • ‡Contact author: fabians@mpa-garching.mpg.de
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Phys. Rev. D 113, 023532 – Published 21 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/396l-5txp

Abstract

Recent baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Collaboration have renewed interest in dynamical dark energy models, particularly those that cross the “phantom divide” (wDE=−1). We present leading observational constraints on monodromic k-essence, a physically motivated scalar field dark energy scenario capable of realizing rapid oscillations about the phantom divide. Using cosmic microwave background (CMB) information, DESI DR2 BAO measurements, and type Ia supernova observations, we constrain the amplitude, frequency, phase, and power-law index describing the monodromic k-essence scenario at the background level. We find that the monodromic dark energy scenario can fit these datasets with a χ2 that is comparable to the phenomenological w0−wa parametrization. While the CMB and BAO data alone are consistent with the standard ΛCDM model, the inclusion of DESY5 supernovae shows a preference for a nonzero amplitude, A=0.44−0.12+0.16 (fully marginalized 68% CL). Conversely, inclusion of the Pantheon-Plus supernovae provides no evidence for monodromic k-essence, with A<0.43 (95% CL). We show that constraints on both monodromic dark energy and w0−wa models are sensitive to the DESI DR2 LRG2 BAO distance, especially in the absence of supernova data.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 023532– Published 21 January, 2026
  • Received 28 July 2025
  • Accepted 9 January 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by the Max Planck Society.

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