Cosmography and cosmic acceleration

Abstract

We investigate the prospects for determining the accelerating history of the Universe from upcoming measurements of the expansion rate $H(z)$. In our analyses, we use Monte Carlo simulations based on $w$CDM models to generate samples with different characteristics and calculate the evolution of the deceleration parameter $q(z)$. We show that a cosmographic (and, therefore, model-independent) evidence for cosmic acceleration ($q(z<z_t) < 0$, where $z_t$ is the transition redshift) will only be possible with an accuracy in $H(z)$ data greater than the expected in current planned surveys. A brief discussion about the prospects for reconstructing the dark energy equation of state from the parameters $H(z)$ and $q(z)$ is also included.