English

Why are the effective equations of loop quantum cosmology so accurate?

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2015-06-17 v2

Abstract

We point out that the relative Heisenberg uncertainty relations vanish for non-compact spaces in homogeneous loop quantum cosmology. As a consequence, for sharply peaked states quantum fluctuations in the scale factor never become important, even near the bounce point. This shows why quantum back-reaction effects remain negligible and explains the surprising accuracy of the effective equations in describing the dynamics of sharply peaked wave packets. This also underlines the fact that minisuperspace models ---where it is global variables that are quantized--- do not capture the local quantum fluctuations of the geometry.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1310.8654,
  title  = {Why are the effective equations of loop quantum cosmology so accurate?},
  author = {Carlo Rovelli and Edward Wilson-Ewing},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1310.8654},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

6 pages, v2: Clarifications and references added

R2 v1 2026-06-22T01:58:40.204Z