Related papers: Quantum Oscillations Can Prevent the Big Bang Sing…
We propose a gravitational model with a Brans-Dicke-type scalar field having, in the would-be action, a "wrong-sign" kinetic term and a quartic interaction term. In a cosmological context, we obtain, depending on the boundary conditions,…
Quantum gravity is expected to be necessary in order to understand situations where classical general relativity breaks down. In particular in cosmology one has to deal with initial singularities, i.e. the fact that the backward evolution…
In [1], KKLT give a mechanism to generate de Sitter vacua in string theory. And the scenario, \emph{Landscape}, is suggested to explain the problem of the cosmological constant. In this paper, adopting a simple potential describing the…
Loop quantum cosmology provides a nice solution of avoiding the big bang singularity through a big bounce mechanism in the high energy region. In loop quantum cosmology an inflationary universe is emergent after the big bounce, no matter…
Loop Quantum Gravity is a background independent, nonperturbative approach to the quantization of General Relativity. Its application to models of interest in cosmology and astrophysics, known as Loop Quantum Cosmology, has led to new and…
Loop quantum cosmology predicts that, in simple models, the big bang singularity of classical general relativity is replaced by a quantum bounce. Because of the extreme physical conditions near the bounce, a natural question is whether the…
In a recent paper it was suggested that inclusion of mutual gravitational interactions among the collapsing particles can avert a singularity and give finite value for various physical quantities. In this paper we extend this idea further…
After a brief review of current scenarios for the resolution and/or avoidance of the Big Bang, an alternative hypothesis is put forward implying an infinite increase in complexity towards the initial singularity. This may result in an…
We discuss a model describing exactly a thin spherically symmetric shell of matter with zero rest mass. We derive the reduced formulation of this system in which the variables are embeddings, their conjugate momenta, and Dirac observables.…
Singular spacetimes are a natural prediction of Einstein's theory. Most memorable are the singular centers of black holes and the big bang. However, dilatonic extensions of Einstein's theory can support nonsingular spacetimes. The…
We study the polymeric nature of quantum matter fields using the example of a Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker universe sourced by a minimally coupled massless scalar field. The model is treated in the symmetry reduced regime via…
Critical gravitational collapse offers a unique window into regimes of arbitrarily high curvature, culminating in a naked singularity arising from smooth initial data -- thus providing a dynamical counterexample to weak cosmic censorship.…
We consider the early time cosmology of f(R) theories in Palatini formalism and study the conditions that guarantee the existence of homogeneous and isotropic models that avoid the Big Bang singularity. We show that for such models the Big…
An oscillating universe cycles through a series of expansions and contractions. We propose a model in which ``phantom'' energy with a supernegative pressure ($p < - \rho$) grows rapidly and dominates the late-time expanding phase. The…
The quantum nature of the Big Bang is reexamined in the framework of Loop Quantum Cosmology. The strict application of a regularization procedure to the Hamiltonian, originally developed for the Hamiltonian in loop quantum gravity, leads to…
The big bounce (BB) transition within a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker model is analyzed in the setting of loop geometry underlying the loop cosmology. We solve the constraint of the theory at the classical level to identify physical phase…
In an open Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) space background, we study the classical and quantum cosmological models in the framework of the recently proposed nonlinear massive gravity theory. Although the constraints which are present in…
Loop quantum gravity introduces strong non-perturbative modifications to the dynamical equations in the semi-classical regime, which are responsible for various novel effects, including resolution of the classical singularity in a Friedman…
Gowdy cosmologies are exact, spatially inhomogeneous solutions of the vacuum Einstein equations which describe nonlinear gravitational waves coalescing at the Big Bang singularity. With toroidal spatial sections they provenly have the…
It is argued that Hawking's `greatest mistake' may not have been a mistake at all. According to the canonical quantum theory of gravity for Friedmann type universes, any time arrows of general nature can only be correlated with that of the…