Confronting Tracker Field Quintessence with Data

We confront tracker field quintessence with observational data. The potentials considered in this paper include $V(φ)\proptoφ^{-α}$, $\exp(M_{p}/φ)$, $\exp(M_{p}/φ)-1$, $\exp(βM_{p}/φ)$ and $\exp(γM_{p}/φ)-1$; while the data come from the latest SN Ia, CMB and BAO observations. Stringent parameter constraints are obtained. In comparison with the cosmological constant via information criteria, it is found that models with potentials $\exp(M_{p}/φ)$, $\exp(M_{p}/φ)-1$ and $\exp(γM_{p}/φ)-1$ are not supported by the current data.