We explore a new class of braneworld models in which the scalar curvature of the ( induced ) brane metric contributes to the brane action . The scalar curvature term arises generically on account of one-loop effects induced by matter fields residing on the brane . Spatially flat braneworld models can enter into a regime of accelerated expansion at late times . This is true even if the brane tension and the bulk cosmological constant are tuned to satisfy the Randall–Sundrum constraint on the brane . Braneworld models admit a wider range of possibilities for dark energy than standard LCDM . In these models the luminosity distance can be both smaller and larger than the luminosity distance in LCDM . Whereas models with d _ { L } \leq d _ { L } ( LCDM ) imply w = p / \rho \geq - 1 and have frequently been discussed in the literature , models with d _ { L } > d _ { L } ( LCDM ) have traditionally been ignored , perhaps because within the general-relativistic framework , the luminosity distance has this property only if the equation of state of matter is strongly negative ( w < -1 ) . Within the conventional framework , ‘ phantom energy ’ with w < -1 is beset with a host of undesirable properties , which makes this model of dark energy unattractive . Braneworld models , on the other hand , have the capacity to endow dark energy with exciting new possibilities ( including w < -1 ) without suffering from the problems faced by phantom energy . For a subclass of parameter values , braneworld dark energy and the acceleration of the universe are transient phenomena . In these models , the universe , after the current period of acceleration , re-enters the matter-dominated regime so that the deceleration parameter q ( t ) \to 0.5 when t \gg t _ { 0 } , where t _ { 0 } is the present epoch . Such models could help reconcile an accelerating universe with the requirements of string/M-theory .