Related papers: Comment on Coleman-DeLuccia Instantons
If one tries to view de Sitter as a true (as opposed to a meta-stable) vacuum, there is a tension between the finiteness of its entropy and the infinite-dimensionality of its Hilbert space. We invetsigate the viability of one proposal to…
We investigate solutions that are dynamically evolving between asymptotically de Sitter and asymptotically anti-de Sitter regions in the context of Einstein gravity coupled to general matter fields in d dimensions. We demonstrate the…
In order for spacetimes with static extra dimensions to have 4-dimensional de Sitter expansion they must have at least positive curvature, warping sourced by the 4-d expansion, or violate the null energy condition everywhere in the extra…
We argue that if de Sitter space is indeed represented by a finite dimensional quantum system, then semi-classical considerations, combined with the fundamental principles of quantum measurement theory, imply that any theoretical model of…
In terms of the Beltrami model of de Sitter space we show that there is an interchangeable relation between Snyder's quantized space-time model in dS-space of momenta at the Planck length $\ell_P=(G\hbar c^{-3})^{1/2}$ and the dS-invariant…
If our universe is asymptotic to a de Sitter space, it should be closed with curvature in $O(\Lambda)$ in view of dS special relativity. Conversely, its evolution can fix on Beltrami systems of inertia in the dS-space without Einstein's…
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…
Model independent arguments following from the Covariant Entropy Principle imply that causal diamonds in the very early universe were entirely filled with a single equilibrated system with finite entropy. A universe where this condition…
In the absence of gravity, Coleman's theorem states that the $O(4)$-symmetric instanton solution, which is regular at the origin and exponentially decays at infinity, gives the lowest action. Perturbatively, this implies that any small…
We analyze the renormalization properties of quantum field theories in de Sitter space and show that only two of the maximally invariant vacuum states of free fields lead to consistent perturbation expansions. One is the Euclidean vacuum,…
Certain off-diagonal vacuum and nonvacuum configurations in Einstein gravity can mimic physical effects of modified gravitational theories of $ f(R,T,R_{\mu\nu}T^{\mu\nu})$ type. We prove this statement by constructing exact and approximate…
We show that in imaginary time quantum metric fluctuations of empty space form a self-consistent de Sitter gravitational instanton that can be thought of as describing tunneling from "nothing" into de Sitter space of real time (no…
We study the second order Coleman - de Luccia instanton which appears as the curvature of the effective potential reaches a sufficiently large value. We show how one can find the approximative formula for this instanton by perturbative…
We revisit the phenomenology of quintessence models in light of the recently refined version of the de Sitter Swampland conjecture, which includes the possibility of unstable de Sitter critical points. We show that models of quintessence…
The causal set approach to quantum gravity models spacetime as a discrete structure - a causal set. Recent research has led to causal set models for the retarded propagator for the Klein-Gordon equation and the d'Alembertian operator. These…
We study the instantons describing the production of particles at the ends of codimension-one objects (strings and struts) in $(2+1)$-dimensional Minkowski and de Sitter spaces. A Minkowskian background allows only for systems with…
Quantum transitions among de Sitter and Minkowski spacetimes through bubble nucleation are revisited using the Hamiltonian formalism. We interpret tunnelling probabilities as relative probabilities: the ratio of the squared wave functionals…
We study the covariant phase space of vacuum general relativity at the null boundary of causal diamonds. The past and future components of such a null boundary each have an infinite-dimensional symmetry algebra consisting of diffeomorphisms…
In these lectures we describe how a theory of quantum gravity may be constructed in terms of a lattice formulation based on so-called causal dynamical triangulations (CDT). We discuss how the continuum limit can be obtained and how to…
Classical gravity coupled to a CFT$_4$ (matter) is considered. The effect of the quantum dynamics of matter on gravity is studied around maximally symmetric spaces (flat, de Sitter and Anti de Sitter). The structure of the graviton…