On the effect of the degeneracy among dark energy parameters

Abstract

The dynamics of scalar fields as dark energy is well approximated by some general relations between the equation of state parameter $w(z)$ and the fraction energy density $\Omega_\phi$. Based on the approximation, for slowly-rolling scalar fields, we derived the analytical expressions of $w(z)$ which reduce to the popular Chevallier-Polarski-Linder parametrization with explicit degeneracy relation between $w_0$ and $w_a$. The models approximate the dynamics of scalar fields well and help eliminate the degeneracies among $w_a$, $w_0$ and $\Omega_{m0}$. With the explicit degeneracy relations, we test their effects on the constraints of cosmological parameters. We find that: (1) The analytical relations between $w_0$ and $w_a$ for the two models are consistent with observational data; (2) The degeneracies have little effect on $\Omega_{m0}$; (3) The $1\sigma$ error of $w_0$ was reduced about 30% with the degeneracy relations.