Dark energy from neutrino interactions in Unimodular Gravity

Abstract

We investigate a dark energy scenario generated by neutrino interactions mediated by a light scalar field, in which finite-temperature corrections induce an effective neutrino mass that evolves with the thermal history of the Universe. Within the framework of Unimodular Gravity, these interactions give rise to a non-conservation current, leading to dynamical dark energy. We study one- and two-neutrino realizations of the model. In the one-neutrino case, the dark energy density evolves monotonically, whereas in the two-neutrino scenario it can reach a maximum at intermediate redshifts before decreasing at late times. Using late time cosmological datasets, we constrain the effective interaction strength for lightest-neutrino masses in the range $0.05 \,{\rm meV}\le m_1 \le 1 \,{\rm meV}$. We find preferred interaction scales of order $G_s\sim10^{12} \, {\rm eV}^{-2}$ with a significance of $2 σ$, with the inferred coupling decreasing as the assumed neutrino mass increases. Assuming neutrino couplings of order unity, this $G_s$ value corresponds to an ultralight mediator with mass $m_ϕ\sim10^{-6} \, {\rm eV}$. We further assess the impact of Planck distance-prior, finding a noticeable reduction in parameter degeneracies and a reconstructed dark energy evolution closer to that of a cosmological constant. Our results show that neutrino interactions can generate both monotonic and non-monotonic dark energy evolutions while remaining compatible with current cosmological observations. The inferred interaction strengths remain consistent with non-zero values for part of the explored neutrino-mass range, supporting neutrino-induced dark energy dynamics as a viable phenomenological extension of $Λ$CDM at the background level.