Related papers: No smooth beginning for spacetime
The paper is the second part of the work devoted to the problem of time in quantum cosmology. Here we consider in detail two approaches within the scope of Feynman path integration scheme: The first, by Simeone and collaborators, is…
Studying transition amplitudes in (2+1)-dimensional causal dynamical triangulations, Cooperman and Miller discovered speculative evidence for Lorentzian quantum geometries emerging from its Euclidean path integral. On the basis of this…
The primitive equations in a 3D infinite layer domain are considered with linearly growing initial data in the horizontal direction, which illustrates the global atmospheric rotating or straining flows. On the boundaries, Dirichlet, Neumann…
We study complex saddles of the Lorentzian path integral for 4D axion gravity and its dual description in terms of a 3-form flux, which include the Giddings-Strominger Euclidean wormhole. Transition amplitudes are computed using the…
We analyse a variety of Euclidean saddles in the gravitational path integral, with asymptotic AdS boundary conditions, in a class of Einstein-Scalar-Maxwell models. These include single boundary solutions, usual and wineglass wormholes, as…
Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz gravity is a potentially UV complete theory with important implications for the very early universe. In particular, in the presence of spatial curvature it is possible to obtain a non-singular bouncing cosmology. The…
The problem of finding the quantum theory of the gravitational field, and thus understanding what is quantum spacetime, is still open. One of the most active of the current approaches is loop quantum gravity. Loop quantum gravity is a…
Cosmologies based on General Relativity encompassing an anti-symmetric connection (torsion) can display nice desirable features as the absence of the initial singularity and the possibility of inflation in the early stage of the universe.…
Horava and Melby-Thompson recently proposed a new version of the Horava-Lifshitz theory of gravity, in which the spin-0 graviton is eliminated by introducing a Newtonian pre-potential $\phi$ and a local U(1) gauge field $A$. In this paper,…
Within the framework of loop quantum cosmology, there exists a semi-classical regime where spacetime may be approximated in terms of a continuous manifold, but where the standard Friedmann equations of classical Einstein gravity receive…
In non-relativistic quantum mechanics, path integrals are normally derived from the Schroedinger equation. This assumes the two formalisms are equivalent. Since time plays a very different role in the Schroedinger equation and in path…
Close to the Planck energy scale, the quantum nature of space-time reveals itself and all forces, including gravity, should be unified so that all interactions correspond to just one underlying symmetry. In the absence of a full quantum…
The gauge approach to gravity based on the local Lorentz group with a general independent affine connection A_{\mu cd} is developed. We consider SO(1,3) gauge theory with a Lagrangian quadratic in curvature as a simple model of quantum…
We revisit the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary proposal. To extract probabilities, one must use the gravitational path integral (GPI) to compute not only the no-boundary amplitude, but also the norms by which its square is divided. We find that…
It is remarkably difficult to reconcile unitary and Vilenkin's wave function. For example, the natural conserved inner product found in quantum unimodular gravity applies to the Hartle-Hawking wave function, but fails for its Vilenkin…
We discuss some of the issues which we encounter when we try to invoke the scalar-tensor theories of gravitation as a theoretical basis of quintessence. One of the advantages of appealing to these theories is that they allow us to implement…
Quantum gravity (or quantum spacetime) is to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics into a single theoretical framework and presented as the most important open puzzle in fundamental physics. The development of a microscopic theory…
A crucial problem in quantum cosmology is a careful analysis of the one-loop semiclassical approximation for the wave function of the universe, after an appropriate choice of mixed boundary conditions. The results for Euclidean quantum…
In the presence of spacetime boundaries, diffeomorphisms in gravitational theories can become physical and acquire non-vanishing Noether charges. These charges obey an algebra which, within the extended phase-space formalism, faithfully…
The search for a mathematical foundation for the path integral of Euclidean quantum gravity calls for the construction of random geometry on the spacetime manifold. Following developments in physics on the two-dimensional theory, random…