Relations between the modified Chaplygin gas and a scalar field

In this work the modified Chaplygin gas is related to a cosmological scalar field. Analytical results, more general than the solutions previously shown in the literature, are presented for the case when the curvature is absent, and one entirely new particular result is shown for a case where there is curvature. Also, it is emphasized here that one interesting feature of the scalar field associated to the modified Chaplygin gas is the possible presence of two minima in its potential. Finally, it is argued that the scalar field representation of the Chaplygin gas can be another useful tool in the study of the evolution of perturbations and, as an example of this, a new analytical result for the density contrast is presented.