Perturbations for transient acceleration

Abstract

According to the standard $\Lambda$CDM model, the accelerated expansion of the Universe will go on forever. Motivated by recent observational results, we explore the possibility of a finite phase of acceleration which asymptotically approaches another period of decelerated expansion. Extending an earlier study on a corresponding homogeneous and isotropic dynamics, in which interactions between dark matter and dark energy are crucial, the present paper also investigates the dynamics of the matter perturbations both on the Newtonian and GR levels and quantifies the potential relevance of perturbations of the dark-energy component. In the background, the model is tested against the Supernova type Ia (SNIa) data of the Constitution set and on the perturbative level against growth rate data and the data of the 2dFGRS project. Our results indicate, that a transient phase of accelerated expansion is not excluded by current observations.