Tracking quintessence by cosmic shear

Aims.Dark energy can be investigated in two complementary ways, by considering either general parameterizations or physically well-defined models. Following the second route, we explore the observational constraints on quintessence models where the acceleration of our universe is driven by a slow-rolling scalar field. Using weak lensing data to investigate high-energy motivated models of dark energy for the first time, the analysis focuses on cosmic shear, examining how weak lensing surveys can constrain dark energy, discussing the limitations due to the lack of knowledge of the non-linear regime, and combining with type Ia supernovae data and cosmic microwave background observations to lift some degeneracies.