Dark Energy with a Triplet of Classical U(1) Fields

Dark energy—the mysterious force driving late time cosmic acceleration—remains one of the most challenging and important unresolved problems in theoretical physics. A better understanding of dark energy would have monumental consequences for cosmology, particle physics, and astronomy. In this talk, I will discuss a new perspective on dark energy in which gauge fields play an important role. I will give a broad overview of cosmic acceleration and discuss what we can learn from some important measurements and models. Motivated by these lessons, I will introduce a new model and conclude with some remarks on phenomenology and future directions.