High Energy Physics and Quintessence

It is shown that any realistic model of quintessence should be based on Supergravity (SUGRA) since the value of the quintessence field on the attractor is approximately the Planck mass. Under very general assumptions, the typical shape of a SUGRA tracking potential is derived. Cosmological implications are investigated. In particular, it is demonstrated that, generically, the equation of state parameter is driven to a value close to -1 in agreement with recent observations.