Anisotropic 2-form dark energy

We study the dynamics of dark energy in the presence of a 2-form field coupled to a canonical scalar field phi. We consider the coupling proportional to e-(mu phi/Mpl) H-alpha ss gamma H-alpha ss gamma and the scalar potential V(phi) proportional to e(-lambda phi/Mpl), where H-alpha ss gamma is the 2-form field strength, mu, lambda are constants, and M-pl is the reduced Planck mass. We show the existence of an anisotropic matter-dominated scaling solution followed by a stable accelerated fixed point with a non-vanishing shear. Even if lambda >= O(1), it is possible to realize the dark energy equation of state w(DE) close to -1 at low redshifts for mu >> lambda. The existence of anisotropic hair and the oscillating behavior of w(DE) are key features for distinguishing our scenario from other dark energy models like quintessence. (C) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.