Scalar fields are the simplest particles in quantum field theory. The main idea is that these simple functions are able to drive the dynamics of the universe. The discovery of dark matter and dark energy has led to the hypothesis that these components are made of scalar fields. There are already hundreds of models with different scalar field potentials trying to explain these phenomena. For instance, one of the most studied candidates to explain the nature of dark energy is the quintessence. On the other hand, the scalar field suggested to be the dark matter component of the universe was introduced during the last century and has been very successful. This Research Topic aims to bring together most of these successes and discuss the open problems and challenges that still remain to be resolved in these two hypotheses.

The main purpose of this thematic collection is to bring together various reviews and new results on this topic. There are several groups working on dark matter and dark energy, some of them from a theoretical point of view, trying to explain the main foundations of this model. Other groups focus on numerical simulations to understand the dynamics of the model. Other groups work with thermodynamics, others with cosmology, etc. The idea of this Research Topic is to bring all these various approaches together. We would like this collection of articles to be a resource for scientists who want to start working in the area of scalar fields applied to the universe, providing them with all the information they need on each branch of the scalar fields in the cosmos.

The main topics of this collection are:

1. Theoretical aspects of scalar fields as dark matter and dark energy
2. Thermodynamics of scalar fields in the cosmos
3. Numerical simulations of scalar fields as dark matter and dark energy
4. Dynamics of scalar fields in the cosmos
5. Statistical and observational aspects of scalar fields such as dark matter and dark energy.

We welcomes submissions of the following article types: Brief Research Report, General Commentary, Hypothesis & Theory, Methods, Mini Review, Opinion, Original Research, Perspective, and Review.

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