AN APPROACH TO TESTING DARK ENERGY BY OBSERVATIONS

An approach to the consistency test of dark energy models with observations is presented. To test a dark energy model, we suggest introducing a characteristic Q(z) that in general varies with the redshift z but in that model plays the role of a constant distinct parameter. Then, by reconstructing dQ(z)/dz from observational data and comparing it with zero we can assess the consistency between data and the model under consideration. The general principle of our approach is not limited to dark energy. It may also be applied to the testing of various cosmological models and even the models in other fields beyond the scope of cosmology.