document_title: Pitch Perfect 2

question_text: who plays beca's boss in pitch perfect

question_tokens: who plays beca 's boss in pitch perfect

text: Pitch Perfect 2

text: Plot[edit]

text: Three years after winning the previous competition, the Barden Bellas are now led by Beca Mitchell and three-time super senior Chloe Beale. The Bellas have become ICCA champions each of these three years. However, the group becomes involved in a national scandal, dubbed Muffgate, when a wardrobe malfunction causes Fat Amy's pants to rip in front of President Barack Obama, as well as showing her vagina to the public since she did not wear underwear, leading to the Bellas' suspension from the ICCAs. Beca makes a deal to allow the Bellas to be reinstated should they win the World Championship of a cappella.

text: Freshman Emily Junk begins her college career, hoping to follow in her mother Katherine's footsteps by being a Bella. At orientation, she watches an a cappella performance by the Treblemakers, now led by Beca's boyfriend Jesse Swanson. Benjamin "Benji" Applebaum, Jesse's best friend, overhears Emily, leading to a crush on her.

text: The Bellas learn that German a cappella group, Das Sound Machine, have replaced the Bellas on their victory tour. Additionally, Beca has started an internship at a recording studio, Residual Heat, something only Jesse knows.

text: Emily goes to the Bellas' sorority house to audition for them because of their absence from the auditions. When she sings her unfinished song "Flashlight," she succeeds in joining the Bellas.

text: At a car show where the ICCA winners are due to perform, the Bellas scout their replacements, German powerhouse "Das Sound Machine" (DSM) - led by intimidating duo Pieter Krämer and Kommissar, who take delight in mocking the all-girl group. Later, the Bellas are invited to an exclusive riff-off, but end up losing to DSM in the final round when a nervous Emily flubs an attempt to sing "Flashlight," her original song not from the right category ("90's Hip-Hop Jamz").

text: The next day at the warmups, the Bellas' chance of winning end in disaster when the performance makes John and Gail question the Bellas' identity and sets Cynthia-Rose's hair on fire by pyrotechnics. In order to regain harmony and sync, Chloe takes them to a retreat led by former leader Aubrey Posen. Beca starts a heated debate with Chloe over herself being the only one thinking about life beyond the Bellas and Chloe's obsession with winning Worlds.

text: To prove to her boss that she can produce music well, Beca offers Emily to produce "Flashlight" at the studio. The group realizes that they will no longer be together and may go their separate ways after graduation, and regain harmony by singing "Cups (When I'm Gone)." At the studio, Emily and Beca present their song to Beca's boss, in which he demonstrates envy for their talent and looks forward to producing with them.

text: The senior Bellas graduate and they all head off to Copenhagen for the World Finals, with Jesse and Benji to cheer them on. They perform a harmonized version of "Flashlight" with Aubrey, Katherine, and other past Bellas joining in. The Bellas win the championship and repair their damaged legacy. As the senior Bellas leave Barden, they give Emily a belated proper initiation with Fat Amy showing her how to do the last tradition: christening the house by sliding down the staircase.

text: In a mid-credits scene, Bumper performs on The Voice, he chooses Christina Aguilera as his coach and makes her uncomfortable when he gives her an oddly lengthy hug.

text: Cast[edit]

text: The Barden Bellas[edit]

text:
Anna Kendrick as Beca Mitchell, the senior leader of the Bellas, known for creating the unique modern-day sound of the Bellas. She is an aspiring record producer and is now an intern at Residual Heat, a record label.
Brittany Snow as Chloe Beale, the three-time super senior with a Type A personality who is the co-leader of the Bellas.
Rebel Wilson as Patricia "Fat Amy", a senior Bella from Australia and Bumper's love interest.
Hana Mae Lee as Lilly Onakurama, a senior Bella known for her quiet speaking voice, odd remarks, and beat-boxing.
Alexis Knapp as Stacie Conrad, a senior Bella known for being overly sexual.
Ester Dean as Cynthia-Rose Adams, a lesbian senior Bella known for her strong urban vocal skills.
Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Junk, a freshman legacy Bella who is an aspiring songwriter, and Benji's love interest. Her mother was also a Barden Bella.
Chrissie Fit as Florencia "Flo" Fuentes, a senior Bella who joined the group her sophomore year when she came to Barden University from Guatemala.
Kelley Jakle as Jessica, a senior Bella.
Shelley Regner as Ashley, a senior Bella.

text: Additional characters[edit]

text:
Skylar Astin as Jesse Swanson, the leader of the Treblemakers and Beca's boyfriend.
Adam DeVine as Bumper Allen, Fat Amy's love interest, former leader of the Treblemakers and current member of the Tone Hangers. After working for John Mayer, he returns to Barden University as a security guard.
Anna Camp as Aubrey Posen, former leader of the Bellas, now runs the Lodge of Fallen Leaves.
Ben Platt as Benjamin "Benji" Applebaum, a senior Treblemaker, Jesse's best friend, and Emily's love interest.
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Kommissar, Das Sound Machine's leader.
Flula Borg as Pieter Krämer, Das Sound Machine's 'second in command'
Katey Sagal as Katherine Junk, Emily's mother and a former Bella.
John Michael Higgins as John Smith, an a cappella competition commentator.
Elizabeth Banks as Gail Abernathy-McKadden-Feinberger, an a cappella competition commentator.
Keegan-Michael Key as Sammy, Beca's boss at Residual Heat, a rude but successful producer.
Shawn Carter Peterson as Dax, an intern at Residual Heat.
David Cross as the Riff-Off host.
Reggie Watts, John Hodgman, Jason Jones, and Joe Lo Truglio as Tone Hanger singers.
Pentatonix as Team Canada
Penn Masala as Team India

text: Green Bay Packers players Clay Matthews, David Bakhtiari, Don Barclay, Josh Sitton, and T. J. Lang play themselves in cameo appearances. Also appearing as themselves are Snoop Dogg, Natalie Morales, Jake Tapper, Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Jimmy Kimmel, Rosie O'Donnell, Rosie Perez, Nicolle Wallace, Jordan Rodgers, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and Pharrell Williams. Robin Roberts, C.J. Perry, and Kether Donohue appear as Legacy Bellas during the finale. Additionally, President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Shonda Rhimes briefly appear via archive footage.

text: Production[edit]

text: In December 2012, Skylar Astin revealed that he and Rebel Wilson had had meetings with Universal Studios about the potential sequel.[7] In April 2013, it was confirmed that a sequel would be released in 2015.[8] Elizabeth Banks directed the sequel, and Kay Cannon returned as screenwriter.[9] Paul Brooks produced for Gold Circle Films, alongside Banks and Max Handelman.[9] Deke Sharon returned as vocal producer, and has a brief cameo as a German reporter.[10] As in the first movie, they ran a month of "a cappella boot camp" before filming.[11]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Anna Kendrick and Wilson returned to the cast early in 2014 to play the characters they originated in the first film.[12] Brittany Snow reprised her character.[13] On April 24, Chrissie Fit was added to the cast.[14] On May 1, Hailee Steinfeld was added to the cast, playing a new member of the Barden Bellas.[15] On May 5, Adam DeVine was reported to return in the film.[16] On May 14, Katey Sagal was added to the cast, playing Steinfeld's character's mother.[17] On May 29, Flula Borg was added to the cast.[18] He played the leader of a European a cappella group, Das Sound Machine, that competed with the Bellas.[19] It was confirmed on June 18, 2014 that Christopher Shepard was added to the cast.[20] It was confirmed on June 19, 2014 that Pentatonix would play the role of a rival group to the Barden Bellas.[21] It was later confirmed that The Filharmonic from season 4 of The Sing Off would make a cameo appearance as a rival group from the Philippines.[22] On August 24, 2014 it was announced that Penn Masala,[23] the all-male Hindi a cappella group from director Elizabeth Banks's and producer Max Handelman's alma mater The University of Pennsylvania, would be featured as a team from Southeast Asia.[24] On June 25, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen was confirmed added to the cast.[25]

text: Filming[edit]

text: On May 21, 2014, principal photography began at Louisiana State University (LSU) campus in Baton Rouge.[26]

text: Music[edit]

text: On December 3, 2014, Mark Mothersbaugh was hired to compose the music for the film.[27] The official soundtrack was released on May 12, 2015.[28] The special edition soundtrack was later released on August 8, 2015.[29]

text: The original album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, earning 107,000 album-equivalent units (92,000 copies of traditional sales) in the week ending May 17, 2015.[30]

text:
No.
Title
Music
Length

1.
"Universal Fanfare"

Elizabeth Banks
John Michael Higgins

0:33

2.
"Kennedy Center Performance (We Got the World/Timber/America The Beautiful/Wrecking Ball)"
The Barden Bellas
2:27

3.
"Lollipop"
The Treblemakers
2:43

4.
"Car Show (Uprising/Tsunami)"
Das Sound Machine
1:47

5.
"Winter Wonderland/Here Comes Santa Claus"

Snoop Dogg
Anna Kendrick

3:04

6.
"Riff Off (Thong Song/(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty/Low/Bootylicious/Baby Got Back/Live Like You Were Dying/Before He Cheats/A Thousand Miles/We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together/What's Love Got to Do with It/This Is How We Do It/Doo Wop (That Thing)/Poison/Scenario/Insane in the Brain/Flashlight)"

Das Sound Machine
Tone Hangers
The Barden Bellas
Green Bay Packers
The Treblemakers

4:24

7.
"Jump"

Das Sound Machine
Tone Hanger
The Treblemakers
Green Bay Packers

1:16

8.
"Convention Performance (Promises/Problem)"
The Barden Bellas
1:41

9.
"Back to Basics (Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy/You Can't Hurry Love/Lady Marmalade/MMMBop/My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It))"
The Barden Bellas
1:30

10.
"Cups ("When I'm Gone") [Campfire Version]"
The Barden Bellas
0:45

11.
"We Belong"

Rebel Wilson
Adam DeVine

3:34

12.
"Any Way You Want It (World Championship Medley)"

Pentatonix
Filharmonic
The Cantasticos
The Singboks
Penn Masala

1:56

13.
"World Championship Finale 1 (My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)/All I Do Is Win)"
Das Sound Machine
2:01

14.
"World Championship Finale 2 (Run the World (Girls)/Where Them Girls At/Lady Marmalade/We Belong/Timber/Flashlight)"
The Barden Bellas
4:16

15.
"Crazy Youngsters"
Ester Dean
3:39

16.
"Pitch Perfect 2 End Credit Medley"
Mark Mothersbaugh
3:00

17.
"Flashlight"
Jessie J
3:29

18.
"All of Me (Bumper's Audition)"
Adam DeVine
1:27

Total length:
43:32[28][31]

text:
[show]Special edition

No.
Title
Music
Length

1.
"Universal Fanfare"

Elizabeth Banks
John Michael Higgins

0:33

2.
"Kennedy Center Performance (We Got the World/Timber/America The Beautiful/Wrecking Ball)"
The Barden Bellas
2:27

3.
"Bang Bang"

Jessie J
Ariana Grande
Nicki Minaj

3:19

4.
"Lollipop"
The Treblemakers
2:43

5.
"Change Your Life"
Iggy Azalea (feat. T.I.)
3:41

6.
"Sunshine"
Teddybears
3:20

7.
"Car Show (Uprising/Tsunami)"
Das Sound Machine
1:47

8.
"A Different Beat"
Little Mix
3:27

9.
"Winter Wonderland/Here Comes Santa Claus"

Snoop Dogg
Anna Kendrick

3:04

10.
"Riff Off (Thong Song/(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty/Low/Bootylicious/Baby Got Back/Live Like You Were Dying/Before He Cheats/A Thousand Miles/We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together/What's Love Got to Do with It/This Is How We Do It/Doo Wop (That Thing)/Poison/Scenario/Insane in the Brain/Flashlight)"

Das Sound Machine
Tone Hangers
The Barden Bellas
Green Bay Packers
The Treblemakers

4:24

11.
"Jump"

Das Sound Machine
Tone Hanger
The Treblemakers
Green Bay Packers

1:16

12.
"Convention Performance (Promises/Problem)"
The Barden Bellas
1:41

13.
"Back to Basics (Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy/You Can't Hurry Love/Lady Marmalade/MMMBop/My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It))"
The Barden Bellas
1:30

14.
"Cups ("When I'm Gone") [Campfire Version]"
The Barden Bellas
0:45

15.
"We Belong"

Rebel Wilson
Adam Devine

3:34

16.
"Any Way You Want It (World Championship Medley)"

Pentatonix
Filharmonic
The Cantasticos
The Singboks
Penn Masala

1:56

17.
"World Championship Finale 1 (My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)/All I Do Is Win)"
Das Sound Machine
2:01

18.
"World Championship Finale 2 (Run the World (Girls)/Where Them Girls At/Lady Marmalade/We Belong/Timber/Flashlight)"
The Barden Bellas
4:16

19.
"Crazy Youngsters"
Ester Dean
3:39

20.
"Heartbreak Dream"
Betty Who
3:38

21.
"Pitch Perfect 2 End Credit Medley"
Mark Mothersbaugh
3:00

22.
"Flashlight"
Jessie J
3:29

23.
"All of Me (Bumper's Audition)"
Adam DeVine
1:27

24.
"Flashlight (Sweet Life Mix)"
Hailee Steinfeld
2:58

25.
"Any Way You Want It"
Pentatonix
2:30

26.
"Flashlight (Rebel Mix)"
Jessie J
3:41

27.
"Jungle"
The Barden Bellas
0:32

Total length:
70:38[29]

text:
Chart (2015)
Peak
position

Australian Albums (ARIA)[32]
3

Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[33]
11

Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[34]
144

Canadian Albums (Billboard)[35]
3

German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[36]
12

New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[37]
8

Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[38]
26

Taiwanese Albums (Five Music)[39]
1

US Digital Albums (Billboard)[40]
1

US Billboard 200[41]
1

US Vinyl Albums (Billboard)[42]
1

text:
Chart (2015)
Position

Australian Albums (ARIA)[43]
27

US Billboard 200[44]
52

text: Release[edit]

text: The film was released on May 7, 2015 in Australia and New Zealand, and May 15 in the United States and Canada.[45]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: A still from the rehearsals for the film was revealed on May 16, 2014.[46] The poster was released on November 18, 2014 and the trailer came out the following day. A second trailer was aired during the Super Bowl on February 1, 2015.[47]

text: Home media[edit]

text: Director Elizabeth Banks stated an additional performance by the Treblemakers was filmed specifically for the DVD release. Also included on the DVD will be deleted scenes.[48] On May 20, 2015, it was announced that FX Networks had acquired U.S. television broadcasting rights to the film.[49]

text: The Blu-ray and DVD editions of Pitch Perfect 2 were released on September 22, 2015 in the U.S.[50] with a Target-exclusive edition containing additional bonus features being released the same day.[51]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Pitch Perfect 2 grossed $184.2 million in North America and $103.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $287.5 million, against a budget of $29 million.[3] In its first five days, the film surpassed the total gross of the original ($115.4 million), and also overtook School of Rock ($131.3 million) for the highest grossing musical-comedy of all-time and the second greatest musical debut ever (behind Beauty and the Beast's $174.8 million in 2017).[4] Deadline.com calculated the net profit of the film to be $139.6 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film.[52]

text: In the United States and Canada, Pitch Perfect 2 grossed $4.6 million from Thursday night showings and $27.8 million on its opening day, increasing the opening weekend projections from $40 million to $64 million.[53] In its opening weekend, the film grossed $69.2 million, finishing first at the box office.[54] The opening weekend gross was more than the entire North American total gross of the first film ($65 million), is the third biggest PG-13 comedy opening of all-time (behind The Simpsons Movie's $74 million in 2007 and Austin Powers in Goldmember's $73 million in 2002) and the highest grossing opening ever for a musical.[55]

text: Outside North America, the film opened at number one in Australia and New Zealand, earning $7.6 million and $1.2 million respectively.[56] The film grossed $22.1 million in Australia, $27.3 million in the United Kingdom and $2.7 million in New Zealand.[citation needed]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Pitch Perfect 2 received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 66% based on 183 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Pitch Perfect 2 sings in sweet comedic harmony, even if it doesn't hit quite as many high notes as its predecessor."[57] On Metacritic, the film holds score of 63 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[58] In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave Pitch Perfect 2 an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[59]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Billboard Music Awards[edit]

text: 2016 Top Soundtrack (won)

text: Teen Choice Awards[edit]

text:
2015 Choice Movie: Comedy (won)
2015 Choice Movie Actor: Comedy (Skylar Astin, won)
2015 Choice Movie Actress: Comedy (Anna Kendrick, won)
2015 Choice Movie Actress: Comedy (Rebel Wilson, nominated)
2015 Choice Movie: Chemistry (Anna Kendrick and Brittany Snow, won)
2015 Choice Movie: Liplock (Rebel Wilson and Adam DeVine, nominated)
2015 Choice Movie: Hissy Fit (Anna Kendrick, won)
2015 Choice Movie: Scene Stealer (Adam DeVine, nominated)
2015 Choice Movie: Scene Stealer (Green Bay Packers, nominated)
2015 Choice Movie: Scene Stealer (Hailee Steinfeld, nominated)

text: People's Choice Awards[edit]

text:
Favorite Movie (lost to Furious 7)
Favorite Comedic Movie (won)
Favorite Comedic Movie Actress (Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, both lost to Melissa McCarthy)

text: Kids Choice Awards[edit]

text:
Favorite Movie (lost to Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Favorite Movie Actress (Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, lost to Jennifer Lawrence)

text: MTV Movie Awards[edit]

text:
Best Female Performance (Anna Kendrick, nominated)
Best Comedic Performance (Rebel Wilson, nominated)
Best Kiss (Rebel Wilson and Adam DeVine, won)
Best Ensemble Cast (won)

text: Sequel[edit]

text: On April 11, 2015, a month before the release of the film, it was announced that Rebel Wilson would return for a third film, although she stated that she did not know if Anna Kendrick or any of the other cast members would also be reprising their roles. She added that she would be "up for a Fat Amy spin-off," although nothing has been confirmed.[60]

text: Director, star, and producer Elizabeth Banks acknowledged the possibility of a third film, saying, "I will say, it would be disingenuous to say that no one's talking about a Pitch Perfect 3; the possibility of it. We are really focused on getting as many butts in seats for this one. If fans embrace it, we are going to seriously think about what the continuing journey would look like, but we don’t know what that is yet".[61]

text: On June 10, 2015, a third film was officially confirmed, with Kay Cannon returning to write the script.[62] Several days later it was announced both Kendrick and Wilson would reprise their roles, and later Brittany Snow was also confirmed to return.[5] Banks will also return to produce, but in June 2016 it was announced she would not be directing the film.[63]

text: The film was originally slated for a July 21, 2017 release, and was later pushed back to August 4, 2017 before moving back to the July 21 slot.[6] In May 2016 it was moved again, this time being pushed back to December 22, 2017.[64]

text: As of January 2, 2017, Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, Ester Dean, Alexis Knapp, Hana Mae Lee, Kelley Jakle, Shelley Regner, Hailee Steinfeld, Chrissie Fit, and Elizabeth Banks have been confirmed to be reprising their roles.[65][66]


document_title: Our Cartoon President

question_text: who does the voice of trump in our cartoon president

root

text: Our Cartoon President

text: Premise[edit]

text: Our Cartoon President looks to open "the White House doors for an 'all access' look at a typical day in Donald Trump's world, examining quintessentially Trumpian details of the presidency and his most important relationships. It's a world in which no one is safe, from close family and confidants to key political figures of both parties and members of the media."[1]

tag: p

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text:
Jeff Bergman as Donald Trump
Cody Lindquist as Melania Trump
William Sadler as John F. Kelly, Jeff Sessions, and Mitch McConnell
Emily Lynne as Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, Karen Pence, and Nancy Pelosi
John Viener as Mike Pence
Gabriel Gundacker as Donald Trump Jr., Stephen Miller, and Brian Kilmeade
Griffin Newman as Jared Kushner
Molly Gordon as Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Jim Santangeli as H. R. McMaster and Fred Trump
James Adomian as Ted Cruz, Sean Hannity, Bill Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, Sebastian Gorka, Alex Jones, and Benjamin Franklin
Zach Cherry as Ben Carson and Colin Kaepernick

tag: ul

text: Recurring[edit]

text:
Amanda Philipson as Rachel Maddow
Stephen Colbert as Wolf Blitzer and God
Brett Davis as Anderson Cooper
Katie Rich as Betsy DeVos
Mike Leech as Paul Ryan
Anna Eilinsfeld as Ainsley Earhardt
Thomas Whittington as Chuck Schumer
R.J. Fried as Steve Doocy and Vladimir Putin
Zach Smilovitz as Steve Mnuchin and John R. Bolton
Paul Christie as Jim Mattis
Matthew Piazzi as George Stephanopoulos and Jim Acosta
Godfrey as Barack Obama and Cory Booker
Jen Spyra as Hillary Clinton
Eliana Kwartler as Angela Merkel and Hope Hicks

text: Guest[edit]

text:
Arthur Lai as Xi Jinping
Aaron Landon as Justin Trudeau
Thomas Berkley as Rex Tillerson
Mike MacRae as Mitt Romney
Ben Siemon as Tagg Romney
Grace Edwards as Omarosa Manigault Newman
David Slavin as Sean Conley

text: Episodes[edit]

text: Season 1 (2018)[edit]

text:
No.Title [2]Written byOriginal air dateU.S. viewers(millions)1"State of the Union"Story by : Stephen Colbert, Chris Licht, Matt Lapin, Tim Luecke & R. J. Fried Teleplay by : R. J. FriedFebruary 11, 2018 (2018-02-11)[a]0.439[3]
The president tries to improve his sagging approval ratings by giving the greatest State of the Union address ever delivered. Simultaneously, he attempts to improve his relationship with Melania during their wedding anniversary.

Cold open: The president gives an address to the citizens of the United States.
2"Disaster Response"Zach SmilovitzFebruary 11, 2018 (2018-02-11)0.417[3]
The president avoids comforting disaster victims by recruiting a team of impersonators to replace him; the president's son Eric sets out to prove he's truly a part of the Trump family.

Cold open: Donald Trump Jr. appears on Hannity to comment on the release of the Nunes memo.
3"Rolling Back Obama"Mike LeechFebruary 18, 2018 (2018-02-18)0.298[4]
The president seeks to outdo his predecessor's achievements and craft a legacy greater than Obama's.

Cold open: The president calls in to Fox & Friends to comment on the firing of Rob Porter.
4"Family Leave"Bob PowersFebruary 25, 2018 (2018-02-25)0.260[5]
In order to grow closer to his daughter Ivanka, the president begins embracing more liberal policy positions, such as her proposal for paid family leave; as a result, the president's favorite morning show host suffers an existential breakdown.

Cold open: The president addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference.
5"State Dinner"Cathy LewMarch 4, 2018 (2018-03-04)0.124[6]
The president tries to outdo Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau when he comes to the White House for a state dinner. Meanwhile, Don Jr. sees his visit as an opportunity to befriend someone popular and well-liked.

Cold open: The president delivers the opening monologue at the 90th Academy Awards and introduces an "In Memoriam" montage that includes various entertainment industry figures accused of sexual harassment.
6"Media Strategy"Sam WestMarch 11, 2018 (2018-03-11)0.164[7]
The first lady gets caught rolling her eyes on camera causing a news media frenzy that the president is forced to contend with. She soon finds herself seeking "face coaching" from Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Cold open: The president unveils his March Madness bracket and a commercial for Ted Cruz's reelection campaign is aired.
7"Wealth Gap"Jennifer F. JacksonMarch 18, 2018 (2018-03-18)0.199[8]
After receiving an honorable mention in a Forbes Magazine list entitled "70 Over 70", the president sets to prove to the world just how rich he is by throwing an extravagant marriage ceremony to renew his vows with Melania. Meanwhile, the vice-president begins to become more focused on monetary concerns and it begins to have a negative effect on his marriage.

Cold open: Anderson Cooper interviews the president who is responding to Stormy Daniels' interview with Cooper on 60 Minutes.
8"Government Shutdown"Gabe GundackerMarch 25, 2018 (2018-03-25)0.195[9]
General Kelly goes out of town and leaves the president to make sure the government is funded by the time he returns, but the president throws a party instead. Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell, and Paul Ryan spend time quality time together as they put off negotiating a budget agreement.

Cold open: The president gives a speech at the March for Our Lives and debuts a PSA advocating for the firing of Robert Mueller.
9"Church and State"Eliana KwartlerApril 1, 2018 (2018-04-01)0.180[10]
After a hot mic gaffe at a church service, the president's approval rating with evangelicals is threatened. In response, the president seeks help from Mike Pence to become the most Christian president in history in time for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. Meanwhile, Jared Kushner seeks new friends and turns to the only two potential people left in the White House – Don Jr. and Eric, who try to convert him to "Trumpism."

Cold open: The president holds a press briefing regarding the Stormy Daniels scandal and announces the hiring of a new lawyer.
10"First Pitch"R. J. FriedApril 8, 2018 (2018-04-08)0.171[11]
The president prepares to throw the first pitch at a Washington Nationals baseball game leading him to question his own masculinity. Meanwhile, Ivanka tries to distinguish herself as a feminist icon by opening a school in Africa and turns to Hillary Clinton for help.

Cold open: The president holds a press briefing in the White House Rose Garden regarding the Russia investigation, a divorce, and the appointment of John R. Bolton as National Security Advisor. Bolton goes on to give a televised address from the Oval Office.
11"Russia Investigation"Zach SmilovitzJuly 15, 2018 (2018-07-15)0.186[12]
Facing questioning from the Senate in the Russia investigation, the president turns to Steven Mnuchin for help overcoming feelings of inferiority instilled in him by his father. Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer attempt to invigorate Democratic voters by coming up with a new campaign platform and slogan.

Cold open: The president meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 2018 Russia–United States summit in Helsinki, Finland.
12"First Family"Jocelyn RichardJuly 22, 2018 (2018-07-22)0.126[13]
The President attempts to patch up his decaying relationship with Melania to gain an invitation to Mitt Romney's campaign event, while Don Jr. and Eric try to become "good boys."

Cold open: The president holds a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin following the 2018 Russia–United States summit in Helsinki, Finland.
13"Mueller Probe"Mike LeechJuly 29, 2018 (2018-07-29)0.137[14]
The President tries to win back the respect of his cabinet, fearing leaks to the media and the possibility of them testifying to Robert Mueller. Meanwhile, Karen Pence worries that the Vice President's trip to Mar-a-Lago will change him.

Cold open: The president calls Russian President Vladimir Putin to talk to him about Shark Week. The duo discuss Putin's declining of Trump's invitation to come to Washington, D.C., the closure of Ivanka Trump's clothing brand, and the release of recorded conversations between Trump and his lawyer Michael Cohen. Trump then patches Sean Hannity into the phone call.
14"The Senior Vote"Bob PowersAugust 5, 2018 (2018-08-05)0.101[15]
As his support from younger voters plummets, the president hatches a plot to maximize his support from his elderly base while also avoiding having to make a speech at the Iowa State Fair, while Don Jr. tries to help by learning how to be middle-aged from Mike Pence, Paul Ryan and Ted Cruz.

Cold open: Anderson Cooper interviews Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.
15"The Wall"Jennifer F. JacksonAugust 12, 2018 (2018-08-12)0.161[16]
Cold open: Donald Trump Jr. appears on Infowars where Alex Jones, after discussing his recent banning from multiple social media and internet platforms, interviews him regarding his meeting with Russians in Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential election.
16"Civil War"R.J. FriedAugust 19, 2018 (2018-08-19)0.122[17]
Cold open: Anderson Cooper interviews Omarosa Manigault Newman who appears on his show with secret audio recordings created while she worked in the White House.
17"Militarization"Gabe GundackerAugust 26, 2018 (2018-08-26)0.167[18]
Cold open: While aboard Air Force One with Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the president reacts to the guilty verdict in Paul Manafort's criminal trial and the guilty plea taken by Michael Cohen. Rudy Giuliani appears on CNN to discuss the developments and John Bolton suggests starting a war to distract people.

tag: table

text: Specials[edit]

text: No.TitleWritten byOriginal air dateU.S. viewers(millions)1"Our Cartoon President: Election Special 2018"[19]TBANovember 4, 2018 (2018-11-04)TBD

text: Notes

text: Jump up ^ Premiered early online through the ShowtimeAnytime app on January 28, 2018.

tag: ol

text: Production[edit]

text: Background[edit]

text: The series is a spin-off from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which, since 2016, had featured a series of sketches featuring a cartoon caricature of Trump designed by Tim Luecke and voiced by Brian Stack. The sketches used Adobe Character Animator to allow Colbert to interact with the character in real-time.[20][21] The character was also featured in an animated short during Colbert's election night special for Showtime.[21][22]

text: Development[edit]

text: Following the online success of the sketches, Late Show showrunner Chris Licht suggested to Tim Luecke and Matt Lappin that they develop the concept into its own television series. In their pitch to Showtime, Luecke and Lappin described the potential series as a look "behind the scenes at the White House" and that their goal would be to "produce it as quickly as we possibly could so that we could begin to keep up with the news cycle."[23]

text: On July 27, 2017, Showtime announced that it had greenlit an animated series based on the sketches, with Colbert, Matt Lappin and Chris Licht as executive producers.[20][24] On December 18, 2017, it was announced that the series would premiere on February 11, 2018.[25][26]

text: On March 8, 2018, Showtime announced that they were ordering an additional seven episodes of the series that are set to air during the summer of 2018. This order would bring the first season total of episodes up to seventeen.[27][28] On May 30, 2018, it was announced that the additional seven episodes of season one would premiere on July 15, 2018.[29] On August 22, 2018, it was announced that Showtime had greenlit a midterm elections themed television special from the series titled "Our Cartoon President: Election Special 2018". The episode is scheduled to air on November 4, 2018 and expected to feature appearances from the cartoon versions of Vladimir Putin, Rudy Giuliani, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama.[19]

text: Release[edit]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: On December 18, 2017, Showtime released the first teaser trailer for the series.[25][26] On May 30, 2018, a trailer for the additional seven episodes of season one was released.[29]

text: 2018 White House Correspondents' Dinner[edit]

text: On April 28, 2018, a special three-minute video created by the cast and crew of the series aired during the 2018 White House Correspondents Dinner.[30]

text: Reception[edit]

text: The first season of Our Cartoon President has been met with a mixed to negative response from critics upon its premiere. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 33% approval rating with an average rating of 5.17 out of 10 based on 21 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Sugar-coated satire, Our Cartoon President wavers between scathing social criticism and softball slings in a way that's as unsatisfying as it is uncomfortable."[31] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the season a score of 42 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[32]

text: Jack Nevins of The Guardian praised the show, calling it a farce that "nailed the Trump drama," and contrasting the show's surreal workplace comedy approach with the more reality and headline-driven approach of other late night comedy shows.[33] In contrast, USA Today critic Kelly Lawler reviewed Our Cartoon President negatively, describing it as "slight, dated and unsustainable". She also concluded that "Watching one episode is enough to get the point. Watching nine more feels unnecessary."[34] Ben Travers of Indiewire also reviewed the show unfavorably, calling it "a pointless, unfunny drudge" and criticized it for humanizing Trump.[35] In a mixed review, Brian Lowry of CNN wrote that "While Our Cartoon President certainly has its moments, the best news for Showtime might be it's only stuck with this experiment in quick-turnaround animation, at least initially, for 10 weeks." He also said that the show suffered from many of the same problems as That's My Bush!, a sitcom produced in 2001 satirizing the presidency of George W. Bush.[36] Matt Wilstein of The Daily Beast was more favorable, writing that "The biggest surprise [of the show] is how hilarious it is" and praising the show for being "remarkably adept at boiling down characters to their core traits, from Trump and his family to members of his Cabinet and Congress to the Fox News personalities he spends most of his day watching".[37]


document_title: Dark energy

question_text: what was the role of dark energy in the early universe

text: Dark energy

text: History of discovery and previous speculation[edit]

text: Einstein's Cosmological Constant[edit]

text: The "cosmological constant" is a constant term that can be added to Einstein's field equation of General Relativity. If considered as a "source term" in the field equation, it can be viewed as equivalent to the mass of empty space (which conceptually could be either positive or negative), or "vacuum energy".

text: The cosmological constant was first proposed by Einstein as a mechanism to obtain a solution of the gravitational field equation that would lead to a static universe, effectively using dark energy to balance gravity.[13] Einstein gave the cosmological constant the symbol Λ (capital lambda).

text: The mechanism was an example of fine-tuning, and it was later realized that Einstein's static universe would not be stable: local inhomogeneities would ultimately lead to either the runaway expansion or contraction of the universe. The equilibrium is unstable: if the universe expands slightly, then the expansion releases vacuum energy, which causes yet more expansion. Likewise, a universe which contracts slightly will continue contracting. These sorts of disturbances are inevitable, due to the uneven distribution of matter throughout the universe. Further, observations made by Edwin Hubble in 1929 showed that the universe appears to be expanding and not static at all. Einstein reportedly referred to his failure to predict the idea of a dynamic universe, in contrast to a static universe, as his greatest blunder.[14]

text: Inflationary Dark Energy[edit]

text: Alan Guth and Alexei Starobinsky proposed in 1980 that a negative pressure field, similar in concept to dark energy, could drive cosmic inflation in the very early universe. Inflation postulates that some repulsive force, qualitatively similar to dark energy, resulted in an enormous and exponential expansion of the universe slightly after the Big Bang. Such expansion is an essential feature of most current models of the Big Bang. However, inflation must have occurred at a much higher energy density than the dark energy we observe today and is thought to have completely ended when the universe was just a fraction of a second old. It is unclear what relation, if any, exists between dark energy and inflation. Even after inflationary models became accepted, the cosmological constant was thought to be irrelevant to the current universe.

text: Nearly all inflation models predict that the total (matter+energy) density of the universe should be very close to the critical density. During the 1980s, most cosmological research focused on models with critical density in matter only, usually 95% cold dark matter and 5% ordinary matter (baryons). These models were found to be successful at forming realistic galaxies and clusters, but some problems appeared in the late 1980s: in particular, the model required a value for the Hubble constant lower than preferred by observations, and the model under-predicted observations of large-scale galaxy clustering. These difficulties became stronger after the discovery of anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background by the COBE spacecraft in 1992, and several modified CDM models came under active study through the mid-1990s: these included the Lambda-CDM model and a mixed cold/hot dark matter model. The first direct evidence for dark energy came from supernova observations in 1998 of accelerated expansion in Riess et al.[15] and in Perlmutter et al.,[16] and the Lambda-CDM model then became the leading model. Soon after, dark energy was supported by independent observations: in 2000, the BOOMERanG and Maxima cosmic microwave background experiments observed the first acoustic peak in the CMB, showing that the total (matter+energy) density is close to 100% of critical density. Then in 2001, the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey gave strong evidence that the matter density is around 30% of critical. The large difference between these two supports a smooth component of dark energy making up the difference. Much more precise measurements from WMAP in 2003–2010 have continued to support the standard model and give more accurate measurements of the key parameters.

text: The term "dark energy", echoing Fritz Zwicky's "dark matter" from the 1930s, was coined by Michael Turner in 1998.[17]

text: Change in expansion over time[edit]

text: High-precision measurements of the expansion of the universe are required to understand how the expansion rate changes over time and space. In general relativity, the evolution of the expansion rate is estimated from the curvature of the universe and the cosmological equation of state (the relationship between temperature, pressure, and combined matter, energy, and vacuum energy density for any region of space). Measuring the equation of state for dark energy is one of the biggest efforts in observational cosmology today. Adding the cosmological constant to cosmology's standard FLRW metric leads to the Lambda-CDM model, which has been referred to as the "standard model of cosmology" because of its precise agreement with observations.

text: As of 2013, the Lambda-CDM model is consistent with a series of increasingly rigorous cosmological observations, including the Planck spacecraft and the Supernova Legacy Survey. First results from the SNLS reveal that the average behavior (i.e., equation of state) of dark energy behaves like Einstein's cosmological constant to a precision of 10%.[18] Recent results from the Hubble Space Telescope Higher-Z Team indicate that dark energy has been present for at least 9 billion years and during the period preceding cosmic acceleration.

text: Nature[edit]

text: The nature of dark energy is more hypothetical than that of dark matter, and many things about the nature of dark energy remain matters of speculation.[19] Dark energy is thought to be very homogeneous, not very dense and is not known to interact through any of the fundamental forces other than gravity. Since it is quite rarefied — roughly 10−27 kg/m3 — it is unlikely to be detectable in laboratory experiments. The reason dark energy can have such a profound effect on the universe, making up 68% of universal density, in spite of being so rarefied is because it uniformly fills otherwise empty space.

text: Independently of its actual nature, dark energy would need to have a strong negative pressure (acting repulsively) like radiation pressure in a metamaterial[20] to explain the observed acceleration of the expansion of the universe. According to general relativity, the pressure within a substance contributes to its gravitational attraction for other things just as its mass density does. This happens because the physical quantity that causes matter to generate gravitational effects is the stress–energy tensor, which contains both the energy (or matter) density of a substance and its pressure and viscosity[dubious – discuss]. In the Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric, it can be shown that a strong constant negative pressure in all the universe causes an acceleration in universe expansion if the universe is already expanding, or a deceleration in universe contraction if the universe is already contracting. This accelerating expansion effect is sometimes labeled "gravitational repulsion".

text: Technical definition[edit]

text: In standard cosmology, there are three components of the universe: matter, radiation and dark energy. Matter is anything whose energy density scales with the inverse cube of the scale factor, i.e. ρ ∝ a−3, while radiation is anything which scales to the inverse fourth power of the scale factor ρ ∝ a−4. This can be understood intuitively: for an ordinary particle in a square box, doubling the length of a side of the box decreases the density (and hence energy density) by a factor of eight (23). For radiation, the decrease in energy density is greater, because an increase in spatial distance also causes a redshift.[21]

text: The final component, dark energy, is an intrinsic property of space, and so has a constant energy density regardless of the volume under consideration (ρ ∝ a0).

text: Evidence of existence[edit]

text: The evidence for dark energy is indirect but comes from three independent sources:

text:
Distance measurements and their relation to redshift, which suggest the universe has expanded more in the last half of its life.[22]
The theoretical need for a type of additional energy that is not matter or dark matter to form the observationally flat universe (absence of any detectable global curvature).
It can be inferred from measures of large scale wave-patterns of mass density in the universe.

text: Supernovae[edit]

text: In 1998, the High-Z Supernova Search Team[15] published observations of Type Ia ("one-A") supernovae. In 1999, the Supernova Cosmology Project[16] followed by suggesting that the expansion of the universe is accelerating.[23] The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess for their leadership in the discovery.[24][25]

text: Since then, these observations have been corroborated by several independent sources. Measurements of the cosmic microwave background, gravitational lensing, and the large-scale structure of the cosmos as well as improved measurements of supernovae have been consistent with the Lambda-CDM model.[26] Some people argue that the only indication for the existence of dark energy is observations of distance measurements and the associated redshifts. Cosmic microwave background anisotropies and baryon acoustic oscillations only serve to demonstrate that distances to a given redshift are larger than would be expected from a "dusty" Friedmann–Lemaître universe and the local measured Hubble constant.[27]

text: Supernovae are useful for cosmology because they are excellent standard candles across cosmological distances. They allow the expansion history of the universe to be measured by looking at the relationship between the distance to an object and its redshift, which gives how fast it is receding from us. The relationship is roughly linear, according to Hubble's law. It is relatively easy to measure redshift, but finding the distance to an object is more difficult. Usually, astronomers use standard candles: objects for which the intrinsic brightness, the absolute magnitude, is known. This allows the object's distance to be measured from its actual observed brightness, or apparent magnitude. Type Ia supernovae are the best-known standard candles across cosmological distances because of their extreme and consistent luminosity.

text: Recent observations of supernovae are consistent with a universe made up 71.3% of dark energy and 27.4% of a combination of dark matter and baryonic matter.[28]

text: Cosmic microwave background[edit]

text: The existence of dark energy, in whatever form, is needed to reconcile the measured geometry of space with the total amount of matter in the universe. Measurements of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies indicate that the universe is close to flat. For the shape of the universe to be flat, the mass/energy density of the universe must be equal to the critical density. The total amount of matter in the universe (including baryons and dark matter), as measured from the CMB spectrum, accounts for only about 30% of the critical density. This implies the existence of an additional form of energy to account for the remaining 70%.[26] The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) spacecraft seven-year analysis estimated a universe made up of 72.8% dark energy, 22.7% dark matter and 4.5% ordinary matter.[5] Work done in 2013 based on the Planck spacecraft observations of the CMB gave a more accurate estimate of 68.3% of dark energy, 26.8% of dark matter and 4.9% of ordinary matter.[29]

text: Large-scale structure[edit]

text: The theory of large-scale structure, which governs the formation of structures in the universe (stars, quasars, galaxies and galaxy groups and clusters), also suggests that the density of matter in the universe is only 30% of the critical density.

text: A 2011 survey, the WiggleZ galaxy survey of more than 200,000 galaxies, provided further evidence towards the existence of dark energy, although the exact physics behind it remains unknown.[30][31] The WiggleZ survey from the Australian Astronomical Observatory scanned the galaxies to determine their redshift. Then, by exploiting the fact that baryon acoustic oscillations have left voids regularly of ~150 Mpc diameter, surrounded by the galaxies, the voids were used as standard rulers to estimate distances to galaxies as far as 2,000 Mpc (redshift 0.6), allowing for accurate estimate of the speeds of galaxies from their redshift and distance. The data confirmed cosmic acceleration up to half of the age of the universe (7 billion years) and constrain its inhomogeneity to 1 part in 10.[31] This provides a confirmation to cosmic acceleration independent of supernovae.

text: Late-time integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect[edit]

text: Accelerated cosmic expansion causes gravitational potential wells and hills to flatten as photons pass through them, producing cold spots and hot spots on the CMB aligned with vast supervoids and superclusters. This so-called late-time Integrated Sachs–Wolfe effect (ISW) is a direct signal of dark energy in a flat universe.[32] It was reported at high significance in 2008 by Ho et al.[33] and Giannantonio et al.[34]

text: Observational Hubble constant data[edit]

text: A new approach to test evidence of dark energy through observational Hubble constant data (OHD) has gained significant attention in recent years.[35][36][37][38] The Hubble constant, H(z), is measured as a function of cosmological redshift. OHD directly tracks the expansion history of the universe by taking passively evolving early-type galaxies as “cosmic chronometers”.[39] From this point, this approach provides standard clocks in the universe. The core of this idea is the measurement of the differential age evolution as a function of redshift of these cosmic chronometers. Thus, it provides a direct estimate of the Hubble parameter

text: The reliance on a differential quantity, Δz/Δt, can minimize many common issues and systematic effects; and as a direct measurement of the Hubble parameter instead of its integral, like supernovae and baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), it brings more information and is appealing in computation. For these reasons, it has been widely used to examine the accelerated cosmic expansion and study properties of dark energy.

text: Theories of dark energy[edit]

text: Dark energy's status as a hypothetical force with unknown properties makes it a very active target of research. The problem is attacked from a great variety of angles, such as modifying the prevailing theory of gravity (general relativity), attempting to pin down the properties of dark energy, and finding alternative ways to explain the observational data.

text: Cosmological constant[edit]

text: The simplest explanation for dark energy is that it is an intrinsic, fundamental energy of space. This is the cosmological constant, usually represented by the Greek letter Λ (Lambda, hence Lambda-CDM model). Since energy and mass are related according to the equation E = mc2, Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that this energy will have a gravitational effect. It is sometimes called a vacuum energy because it is the energy density of empty vacuum.

text: The cosmological constant has negative pressure equal to its energy density and so causes the expansion of the universe to accelerate. The reason a cosmological constant has negative pressure can be seen from classical thermodynamics. In general, energy must be lost from inside a container (the container must do work on its environment) in order for the volume to increase. Specifically, a change in volume dV requires work done equal to a change of energy −P dV, where P is the pressure. But the amount of energy in a container full of vacuum actually increases when the volume increases, because the energy is equal to ρV, where ρ is the energy density of the cosmological constant. Therefore, P is negative and, in fact, P = −ρ.

text: There are two major advantages for the cosmological constant. The first is that it is simple. Einstein had in fact introduced this term in his original formulation of general relativity such as to get a static universe. Although he later discarded the term after Hubble found that the universe is expanding, a nonzero cosmological constant can act as dark energy, without otherwise changing the Einstein field equations. The other advantage is that there is a natural explanation for its origin. Most quantum field theories predict vacuum fluctuations that would give the vacuum this sort of energy. This is related to the Casimir effect, in which there is a small suction into regions where virtual particles are geometrically inhibited from forming (e.g. between plates with tiny separation).

text: A major outstanding problem is that the same quantum field theories predict a huge cosmological constant, more than 100 orders of magnitude too large.[11] This would need to be almost, but not exactly, cancelled by an equally large term of the opposite sign. Some supersymmetric theories require a cosmological constant that is exactly zero,[42] which does not help because supersymmetry must be broken.

text: Nonetheless, the cosmological constant is the most economical solution to the problem of cosmic acceleration. Thus, the current standard model of cosmology, the Lambda-CDM model, includes the cosmological constant as an essential feature.

text: Modified gravity[edit]

text: The evidence for dark energy is heavily dependent on the theory of general relativity. Therefore, it is conceivable that a modification to general relativity also eliminates the need for dark energy. There are very many such theories, and research is ongoing.[43][44]

text: Quintessence[edit]

text: In quintessence models of dark energy, the observed acceleration of the scale factor is caused by the potential energy of a dynamical field, referred to as quintessence field. Quintessence differs from the cosmological constant in that it can vary in space and time. In order for it not to clump and form structure like matter, the field must be very light so that it has a large Compton wavelength.

text: No evidence of quintessence is yet available, but it has not been ruled out either. It generally predicts a slightly slower acceleration of the expansion of the universe than the cosmological constant. Some scientists think that the best evidence for quintessence would come from violations of Einstein's equivalence principle and variation of the fundamental constants in space or time.[45] Scalar fields are predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics and string theory, but an analogous problem to the cosmological constant problem (or the problem of constructing models of cosmological inflation) occurs: renormalization theory predicts that scalar fields should acquire large masses.

text: The coincidence problem asks why the acceleration of the Universe began when it did. If acceleration began earlier in the universe, structures such as galaxies would never have had time to form, and life, at least as we know it, would never have had a chance to exist. Proponents of the anthropic principle view this as support for their arguments. However, many models of quintessence have a so-called "tracker" behavior, which solves this problem. In these models, the quintessence field has a density which closely tracks (but is less than) the radiation density until matter-radiation equality, which triggers quintessence to start behaving as dark energy, eventually dominating the universe. This naturally sets the low energy scale of the dark energy.[46][47]

text: In 2004, when scientists fit the evolution of dark energy with the cosmological data, they found that the equation of state had possibly crossed the cosmological constant boundary (w = −1) from above to below. A No-Go theorem has been proved that gives this scenario at least two degrees of freedom as required for dark energy models. This scenario is so-called Quintom scenario.

text: Some special cases of quintessence are phantom energy, in which the energy density of quintessence actually increases with time, and k-essence (short for kinetic quintessence) which has a non-standard form of kinetic energy such as a negative kinetic energy.[48] They can have unusual properties: phantom energy, for example, can cause a Big Rip.

text: Interacting dark energy[edit]

text: This class of theories attempts to come up with an all-encompassing theory of both dark matter and dark energy as a single phenomenon that modifies the laws of gravity at various scales. This could for example treat dark energy and dark matter as different facets of the same unknown substance,[49] or postulate that cold dark matter decays into dark energy.[50] Another class of theories that unifies dark matter and dark energy are suggested to be covariant theories of modified gravities. These theories alter the dynamics of the space-time such that the modified dynamic stems what have been assigned to the presence of dark energy and dark matter.[51]

text: Variable dark energy models[edit]

text: The density of dark energy might have varied in time over the history of the universe. Modern observational data allow for estimates of the present density. Using baryon acoustic oscillations, it is possible to investigate the effect of dark energy in the history of the Universe, and constrain parameters of the equation of state of dark energy. To that end, several models have been proposed. One of the most popular models is the Chevallier–Polarski–Linder model (CPL).[52][53] Some other common models are, (Barboza & Alcaniz. 2008),[54] (Jassal et al. 2005),[55] (Wetterich. 2004).[56]

text: Observational skepticism[edit]

text: Some alternatives to dark energy aim to explain the observational data by a more refined use of established theories. In this scenario, dark energy doesn't actually exist, and is merely a measurement artifact. For example, if we are located in an emptier-than-average region of space, the observed cosmic expansion rate could be mistaken for a variation in time, or acceleration.[57][58][59][60] A different approach uses a cosmological extension of the equivalence principle to show how space might appear to be expanding more rapidly in the voids surrounding our local cluster. While weak, such effects considered cumulatively over billions of years could become significant, creating the illusion of cosmic acceleration, and making it appear as if we live in a Hubble bubble.[61][62][63] Yet another possibility is that the accelerated expansion of the universe is an illusion caused by the relative motion of us to the rest of the universe.[64][65]

text: A team led by Professor Subir Sarkar of Oxford University's Department of Physics and the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen making use of a vastly increased data set – a catalogue of 740 Type Ia supernovae which is more than ten times the original sample size – has scrutinized the claim of an accelerating expanding universe. The researchers were unable to find any significant evidence of an accelerating expansion.[66] Sarkar comments:[67]

text: The discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe won the Nobel Prize, the Gruber Cosmology Prize, and the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. It led to the widespread acceptance of the idea that the universe is dominated by "dark energy" that behaves like a cosmological constant – this is now the "standard model" of cosmology... However, there now exists a much bigger database of supernovae on which to perform rigorous and detailed statistical analyses. We analysed the latest catalogue of 740 Type Ia supernovae – over ten times bigger than the original samples on which the discovery claim was based – and found that the evidence for accelerated expansion is, at most, what physicists call "3 sigma". This is far short of the 5 sigma standard required to claim a discovery of fundamental significance.

text: Implications for the fate of the universe[edit]

text: Cosmologists estimate that the acceleration began roughly 5 billion years ago.[citation needed] Before that, it is thought that the expansion was decelerating, due to the attractive influence of dark matter and baryons. The density of dark matter in an expanding universe decreases more quickly than dark energy, and eventually the dark energy dominates. Specifically, when the volume of the universe doubles, the density of dark matter is halved, but the density of dark energy is nearly unchanged (it is exactly constant in the case of a cosmological constant).

text: Projections into the future can differ radically for different models of dark energy. For a cosmological constant, or any other model that predicts that the acceleration will continue indefinitely, the ultimate result will be that galaxies outside the Local Group will have a line-of-sight velocity that continually increases with time, eventually far exceeding the speed of light.[68] This is not a violation of special relativity because the notion of "velocity" used here is different from that of velocity in a local inertial frame of reference, which is still constrained to be less than the speed of light for any massive object (see Uses of the proper distance for a discussion of the subtleties of defining any notion of relative velocity in cosmology). Because the Hubble parameter is decreasing with time, there can actually be cases where a galaxy that is receding from us faster than light does manage to emit a signal which reaches us eventually.[69][70] However, because of the accelerating expansion, it is projected that most galaxies will eventually cross a type of cosmological event horizon where any light they emit past that point will never be able to reach us at any time in the infinite future[71] because the light never reaches a point where its "peculiar velocity" toward us exceeds the expansion velocity away from us (these two notions of velocity are also discussed in Uses of the proper distance). Assuming the dark energy is constant (a cosmological constant), the current distance to this cosmological event horizon is about 16 billion light years, meaning that a signal from an event happening at present would eventually be able to reach us in the future if the event were less than 16 billion light years away, but the signal would never reach us if the event were more than 16 billion light years away.[70]

text: As galaxies approach the point of crossing this cosmological event horizon, the light from them will become more and more redshifted, to the point where the wavelength becomes too large to detect in practice and the galaxies appear to vanish completely[72][73] (see Future of an expanding universe). The Earth, the Milky Way, and the Local Group of which the Milky way is a part, would all remain virtually undisturbed as the rest of the universe recedes and disappears from view. In this scenario, the Local Group would ultimately suffer heat death, just as was hypothesized for the flat, matter-dominated universe before measurements of cosmic acceleration.

text: There are other, more speculative ideas about the future of the universe. The phantom energy model of dark energy results in divergent expansion, which would imply that the effective force of dark energy continues growing until it dominates all other forces in the universe. Under this scenario, dark energy would ultimately tear apart all gravitationally bound structures, including galaxies and solar systems, and eventually overcome the electrical and nuclear forces to tear apart atoms themselves, ending the universe in a "Big Rip". It is also possible the universe may never have an end and continue in its present state forever[citation needed] (see The Second Law as a law of disorder). On the other hand, dark energy might dissipate with time or even become attractive. Such uncertainties leave open the possibility that gravity might yet rule the day and lead to a universe that contracts in on itself in a "Big Crunch",[74] or that there may even be a dark energy cycle, which implies a cyclic model of the universe in which every iteration (Big Bang then eventually a Big Crunch) takes about a trillion (1012) years.[75][76] While none of these are supported by observations, they are not ruled out.

text: In philosophy of science[edit]

text: In philosophy of science, dark energy is an example of an "auxiliary hypothesis", an ad hoc postulate that is added to a theory in response to observations that falsify it. It has been argued that the dark energy hypothesis is a conventionalist hypothesis, that is, a hypothesis that adds no empirical content and hence is unfalsifiable in the sense defined by Karl Popper.[77]