English

Zitterbewegung of a Model Universe

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2008-11-26 v1

Abstract

We investigate the quantum evolution of the metric operators for Bianchi-Type I model universes in the Heisenberg picture in order to remove the need to consider the wave function of the universe and interpret its "spin" variables. The calculation is analogous to that of the Zitterbewegung of the Dirac electron. We consider the behavior of the metric near the classical singularity, and consider the curvature there. Although factor ordering questions preclude the presentation of an unambiguous result for the curvature invariants, it does seem that the classical t4t^{-4} divergence of the Kretschmann scalar is not removed by quantization.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0709.0892,
  title  = {Zitterbewegung of a Model Universe},
  author = {R. B. Mann and G. L. Murphy},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0709.0892},
  year   = {2008}
}

Comments

9 pages, Latex, to appear in International Journal of Theoretical Physics