Axio-Dilaton Dark Energy: A Dynamical Systems and Bayesian Inference Analysis

We initiate a systematic cosmological investigation of an axio-dilaton system governed by a curved field-space metric as generically motivated by supergravity and string compactifications. The scalar sector consists of a light scalar dilaton field evolving along an asymptotically exponential potential and a pseudoscalar field spanning an essentially flat direction, kinetically coupled through an exponential field-space metric. Deviations from the asymptotic regime are incorporated by introducing a generalised Albrecht-Skordis potential containing a polynomial factor. Utilising a dynamical systems approach alongside numerical evolution and Bayesian inference, we constrain the model using Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia), Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) and Planck 2018 distance-prior data. We identify a parameter degeneracy indicating that steeper potentials demand stronger field-space kinetic couplings to sustain late-time cosmic acceleration. Finally, a joint likelihood analysis reveals that while the model successfully accounts for dark energy dynamics, it is only slightly statistically favoured over Λ CDM by current observations.