Related papers: Transcending Big Bang in Loop Quantum Cosmology: R…
This short review is addressed to cosmologists. General relativity predicts that space-time comes to an end and physics comes to a halt at the big-bang. Recent developments in loop quantum cosmology have shown that these predictions cannot…
A new model is studied which describes the quantum behavior of transitions through an isotropic quantum cosmological bounce in loop quantum cosmology sourced by a free and massless scalar field. As an exactly solvable model even at the…
An exactly solvable bounce model in loop quantum cosmology is identified which serves as a perturbative basis for realistic bounce scenarios. Its bouncing solutions are derived analytically, demonstrating why recent numerical simulations…
In contrast to previous work in the field, we construct the Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC) of the flat isotropic model with a massless scalar field in the absence of higher order curvature corrections to the gravitational part of the…
The fundamental theory and the semiclassical description of loop quantum cosmology (LQC) have been studied in the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker and Bianchi I models. As an extension to include both anisotropy and intrinsic curvature, this…
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…
The initial cosmological singularity in the framework of the general theory of relativity is resolved by introducing the effect of the uncertainty principle of quantum theory without violating conventional laws of physics. A plausible…
We study the role of non-perturbative quantum gravity effects in the Ekpyrotic/Cyclic model using the effective framework of loop quantum cosmology in the presence of anisotropies. We show that quantum geometric modifications to the…
We study the quantum cosmology of a flat Friedmann-Lema\^{i}tre-Robertson-Walker universe filled with a (free) massless scalar field and a perfect fluid that represents radiation or a cosmological constant whose value is not fixed by the…
The spatially flat and isotropic cosmological model of Brans-Dicke theory with coupling parameter $\omega\neq-3/2$ is quantized by the approach of loop quantum cosmology. An interesting feature of this model is that, although the…
This Chapter provides an up to date, pedagogical review of some of the most relevant advances in loop quantum cosmology. We review the quantization of homogeneous cosmological models, their singularity resolution and the formulation of…
We show that the quantization ambiguities of loop quantum cosmology, when considered in wider generality, can be used to produce discretionary dynamical behavior. There is an infinite dimensional space of ambiguities which parallels the…
The expansion of our universe, when followed backward in time, implies that it emerged from a phase of huge density, the big bang. These stages are so extreme that classical general relativity combined with matter theories is not able to…
An one-parameter regularization freedom of the Hamiltonian constraint for loop quantum gravity is analyzed. The corresponding spatially flat, homogenous and isotropic model includes the two well-known models of loop quantum cosmology as…
New Planck scale physics may solve the singularity problems of classical general relativity and may lead to interesting consequences for very early Universe cosmology. Two approaches to these questions are reviewed in this article. The…
A novel approach to quantization is shown to allow for superpositions of the cosmological constant in isotropic and homogeneous mini-superspace models. Generic solutions featuring such superpositions display unitary evolution and resolution…
It is well known that a closed universe with a minimally coupled massive scalar field always collapses to a singularity unless the initial conditions are extremely fine tuned. We show that the corrections to the equations of motion for the…
One of the most remarkable phenomena in Loop Quantum Cosmology is that, at least for homogeneous cosmological models, the Big Bang is replaced with a Big Bounce that connects our universe with a previous branch without passing through a…
A key result of isotropic loop quantum cosmology is the existence of a quantum bounce which occurs when the energy density of the matter field approaches a universal maximum close to the Planck density. Though the bounce has been exhibited…
A non-singular bouncing cosmology is generically obtained in loop quantum cosmology due to non-perturbative quantum gravity effects. A similar picture can be achieved in standard general relativity in the presence of a scalar field with a…