LAUSR

We enlarge the classes of inflaton and quintessence fields by generalizing the pseudo-Nambu–Goldstone boson potential by means of elliptic Jacobian functions, which are characterized by a parameter k. We use such a generalization to implement an inflationary era and a late acceleration of the universe. As an inflationary model, the Jacobian generalization leads us to a number of e-foldings and a primordial spectrum of perturbations compatible with the Planck Collaboration 2015. As a quintessence model, a study of the evolution of its equation-of-state (EoS) and its w′–w plane helps us to classify it as a thawing model. This allows us to consider analytical approximations for the EoS recently discovered for thawing quintessence. By using JLA supernovae Ia and Hubble parameter H(z) data sets, we perform an observational analysis of the viability of the model as quintessence.