Related papers: Relational Quantum Cosmology
Quantum geometrodynamics is canonical quantum gravity with the three-metric as the configuration variable. Its central equation is the Wheeler--DeWitt equation. Here I give an overview of the status of this approach. The issues discussed…
The two-component formalism in quantum cosmology is revisited with a particular emphasis on the identification of time. Its relation with the appearance of imaginary eigenvalues is established. It is explicitly shown how a good choice of…
We review the application of the consistent (or decoherent) histories formulation of quantum theory to canonical loop quantum cosmology. Conventional quantum theory relies crucially on "measurements" to convert unrealized quantum…
The Bohm-de Broglie interpretation of quantum mechanics is applied to canonical quantum cosmology. It is shown that, irrespective of any regularization or choice of factor ordering of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation, the unique relevant quantum…
The cosmological constant problem is principally concerned with trying to understand how the zero-point energy of quantum fields contributes to gravity. Here we take the approach that by addressing a fundamental unresolved issue in quantum…
We present a relational framework in which temporal structure is not fundamental but emerges from correlations within a globally stationary quantum state. Each subsystem includes an internal clock, and conditional states evolve effectively…
Everett's interpretation of quantum mechanics was proposed to avoid problems inherent in the prevailing interpretational frame. It assumes that quantum mechanics can be applied to any system and that the state vector always evolves…
We investigate a cosmological model with a big-brake singularity in the future: while the first time derivative of the scale factor goes to zero, its second time derivative tends to minus infinity. Although we also discuss the classical…
Quantum mechanics rests on the assumption that time is a classical variable. As such, classical time is assumed to be measurable with infinite accuracy. However, all real clocks are subject to quantum fluctuations, which leads to the…
Since its inception, quantum theory has been the subject of fierce interpretive controversy, which persists to this day. Disputed topics include the basic ontology and dynamics of the theory, the role (if any) of measurement, the meaning of…
A commonly adopted relational account of time evolution in generally-covariant systems, and more specifically in quantum cosmology, is argued to be unsatisfactory, insofar as it describes evolution relative to observed readings of a clock…
We propose a solution to the problem of time for systems with a single global Hamiltonian constraint. Our solution stems from the observation that, for these theories, conventional gauge theory methods fail to capture the full classical…
The relational interpretation (or RQM, for Relational Quantum Mechanics) solves the measurement problem by considering an ontology of sparse relative events, or "facts". Facts are realized in interactions between any two physical systems…
The cosmological implications of an evolutionary quantum gravity are analyzed in the context of a generic inhomogeneous model. The Schr\"{o}dinger problem is formulated and solved in the presence of a scalar field, an ultrarelativistic…
How the time evolution which is typical for classical cosmology emerges from quantum cosmology? The answer is not trivial because the Wheeler-DeWitt equation is time independent. A framework associating the quantum Hamilton-Jacobi to the…
Quantum measurement and quantum operation theory is developed here by taking the relational properties among quantum systems, instead of the independent properties of a quantum system, as the most fundamental elements. By studying how the…
A non-relativistic quantum mechanical theory is proposed that describes the universe as a continuum of worlds whose mutual interference gives rise to quantum phenomena. A logical framework is introduced to properly deal with propositions…
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…
By regarding the vacuum as a perfect fluid with equation of state p=-rho, de Sitter's cosmological model is quantized. Our treatment differs from previous ones in that it endows the vacuum with dynamical degrees of freedom. Instead of being…
I suggest that the common unease with taking quantum mechanics as a fundamental description of nature (the "measurement problem") could derive from the use of an incorrect notion, as the unease with the Lorentz transformations before…