Theories with a pole in the kinetic term have been used to great effect in studying inflation, owing to their quantum stability and attractor properties. We explore the use of such pole kinetic terms in dark energy theories, finding an interesting link between thawing and freezing models, and the possibility of enhanced plateaus with “superattractorlike” behavior. We assess the observational viability of pole dark energy, showing that simple models can give dark energy equation-of-state evolution with $w(z)<-0.9$ even for potentials that could not normally achieve this easily. The kinetic term pole also offers an interesting perspective with respect to the swampland criteria for such observationally viable dark energy models.

• Received 11 November 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.101.023506