The phenomenological approach to modeling the dark energy

In this mini-review we discuss first why we should investigate cosmological models beyond Λ CDM. We then show how to describe dark energy or modified gravity models in a fluid language with the help of one background and two perturbation quantities. We review a range of dark energy models and study how they fit into the phenomenological framework, including generalizations like phantom crossing, sound speeds different from c and non-zero anisotropic stress, and how these effective quantities are linked to the underlying physical models. We also discuss the limits of what can be measured with cosmological data, and some challenges for the framework.