WMAP CONSTRAINTS ON A QUINTESSENCE MODEL

We use the results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) for the locations of peaks and troughs of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) power spectrum, together with constraints from large-scale structure, to study a quintessence model in which the pure exponential potential is modified by a polynomial factor. Our analysis, in the $(\Omega_m, h, n_s)$ cosmological parameters space shows that this quintessence model is favoured compared to $\Lambda$CDM for $n_s\approx 1$ and relatively high values of early quintessence; for $n_s<1$, quintessence and $\Lambda$CDM give similar results, except for high values of early quintessence, in which case $\Lambda$CDM is favoured.