We numerically and analytically explore the background cosmological dynamics
of multifield dark energy with highly nongeodesic or “spinning” field-space
trajectories. These extensions of standard single-field quintessence possess
appealing theoretical features and observable differences from the cosmological
standard model. At the level of the cosmological background, we perform a
phase-space analysis and identify approximate attractors with late-time
acceleration for a wide range of initial conditions. Focusing on two classes of
field-space geometry, we derive bounds on parameter space by demanding viable
late-time acceleration and the absence of gradient instabilities, as well as
from the de Sitter swampland conjecture.
