Related papers: Introductory Lectures on Quantum Cosmology (1990)
In physical theories, boundary or initial conditions play the role of selecting special situations which can be described by a theory with its general laws. Cosmology has long been suspected to be different in that its fundamental theory…
The article addresses a possibility of obtaining cosmologically relevant effects from the quantum nature of the Hubble horizon. Following the observation made by E.~Bianchi and C.~Rovelli in Phys.\ Rev.\ D {\bf 84} (2011) 027502 we explore…
After an overview of the physical motivations for studying quantum gravity, we reprint THE FORMAL STRUCTURE OF QUANTUM GRAVITY, i.e. the 1978 Cargese Lectures by Professor B.S. DeWitt, with kind permission of Springer. The reader is…
This review gives an introduction to various attempts to understand the quantum nature of black holes. The first part focuses on thermodynamics of black holes, Hawking radiation, and the interpretation of entropy. The second part is devoted…
Stephen Hawking's contributions to the understanding of gravity, black holes and cosmology were truly immense. They began with the singularity theorems in the 1960s followed by his discovery that black holes have an entropy and consequently…
We review some aspects of quantum gravity in the context of cosmology. In particular, we focus on models with a phenomenology accessible to current and near-future observations, as the early Universe might be our only chance to peep through…
Our universe is born of a tunnelling from nothing in quantum cosmology. Nothing here can be interpreted as a state with zero entropy. As a reliable modification of the Hartle-Hawking wave function of the universe, the improved…
The early universe according to the big bang and the grand unified theories is discussed. The shortcomings of big bang are summarized together with their resolution by inflationary cosmology. Inflation, the subsequent oscillation and decay…
Loop Quantum Gravity is a nonperturbative and background independent program for the quantization of General Relativity. Its underlying formalism has been applied successfully to the study of cosmological spacetimes, both to test the…
Observational cosmology is in its "golden age" with a vast amount of recent data on the distribution of matter and light in the universe. This data can be used to probe theories of the very early universe. It is small amplitude cosmological…
The primordial Universe can be used as a laboratory to set constraints on quantum gravity. In the framework of Loop Quantum Cosmology, we show that such a proposal for quantum gravity not only solves for the big bang singularity issue but…
This review is an up-to-date account of the use of numerical relativity to study dynamical, strong-gravity environments in a cosmological context. First, we provide a gentle introduction into the use of numerical relativity in solving…
This is a brief introduction to quantum aspects of black holes, addressed at an astrophysics-oriented audience. The topics are: The laws of black-hole mechanics, Hawking radiation, interpretation of entropy, and primordial black holes.
From a hydrodynamicist's point of view the inclusion of viscosity concepts in the macroscopic theory of the cosmic fluid would appear most natural, as an ideal fluid is after all an abstraction (excluding special cases such as…
We note that in general there exist two basic aspects in any branch of physics, including cosmology - one dealing with the attributes of basic constituents and forces of nature, the other dealing with how structures arise from them and how…
Based upon the holographic principle, Jacobson demonstrated that the spacetime can be viewed as a gas of atoms with a related entropy given by the Bekenstein-Hawking formula. Following this argument, Friedmann equations can be derived by…
The Planck collaboration has provided us rich information about the early universe, and a host of new observational missions will soon shed further light on the `anomalies' that appear to exist on the largest angular scales. From a quantum…
Contents: Introduction. The Present State of the Universe. What Can We Expect From a Complete Cosmological Theory? An Overview of Quantum Effects in Cosmology. Parametric (Superadiabatic) Amplification of Classical Waves. Graviton Creation…
The status of quantum cosmologies as testable models of the early universe is assessed in the context of inflation. While traditional Wheeler-DeWitt quantization is unable to produce sizable effects in the cosmic microwave background, the…
The era of precision cosmology has allowed us to accurately determine many important cosmological parameters, in particular via the CMB. Confronting Loop Quantum Cosmology with these observations provides us with a powerful test of the…