Cosmological viability of f(R)-gravity as an ideal fluid and its compatibility with a matter dominated phase

We show that f(R)-gravity can, in general, give rise to cosmological viable models compatible with a matter-dominated epoch evolving into a late accelerated phase. We discuss the various representations of f (R)-gravity as an ideal fluid or a scalar-tensor gravity theory, taking into account conformal transformations. We point out that mathematical equivalence does not correspond, in several cases, to the physical equivalence of Jordan frame and Einstein frame. Finally, we show that wide classes of f (R) gravity models, including matter and accelerated phases, can be phenomenologically reconstructed by means of observational data. In principle, any popular quintessence models could be "reframed" as an f (R)-gravity model. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.