Cosmological expansion governed by a scalar field from a 5D vacuum

We consider a single field governed expansion of the universe from a five dimensional (5D) vacuum state. Under an appropiate change of variables the universe can be viewed in a effective manner as expanding in 4D with an effective equation of state which describes different epochs of its evolution. In the example here worked the universe firstly describes an inflationary phase, followed by a decelerated expansion. Thereafter, the universe is accelerated and describes a quintessential expansion to finally, in the future, be vacuum dominated. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.