Related papers: Review of the No-Boundary Wave Function
Theoretical considerations motivate us to consider vacuum energy to be able to decay and to assume that the spatial geometry of the universe is closed. Combining both aspects leads to the possibility that the universe, or certain regions…
Reduction is shown to be a possible consequence of the basic principles of quantum mechanics, involving no branching of the quantum state of the universe. The key feature of a measurement is attributed to the creation of macroscopic germs…
We use a path-integral approach to study the tunneling wave function in quantum cosmology with spatial topology $S^{1}\times S^{2}$ and positive cosmological constant (the Kantowski-Sachs model). If the initial scale factors of both $S^1$…
Hawking's proposal that the Universe has no temporal boundary and hence no beginning depends on the notion of imaginary time and is usually referred to as the "no-boundary proposal." This paper discusses a simple alternative approach by…
What is the quantum state of the universe? That is the central question of quantum cosmology. This essay describes the place of that quantum state in a final theory governing the regularities exhibited universally by all physical systems in…
In order to resolve the measurement problem of Quantum Mechanics, non-unitary time evolution has been derived from the unitarity of standard quantum formalism. New wave functions of free and non-free quantum systems follow from Schroedinger…
Many cosmological models assume or imply that the total size of the universe is very large, perhaps even infinite. Here we argue instead that the universe might be comparatively small, in fact not much larger than the currently observed…
We investigate the meaning of the wave function by analyzing the mass and charge density distribution of a quantum system. According to protective measurement, a charged quantum system has mass and charge density proportional to the modulus…
Our review is devoted to three promising research lines in quantum cosmology and the physics of the early universe. The nonperturbative renormalization programme is making encouraging progress that we here assess from the point of view of…
The causal interpretation of quantum mechanics is applied to a homogeneous and isotropic quantum universe, whose matter content is composed by non interacting dust and radiation. For wave functions which are eigenstates of the total dust…
The structure of the nucleon wave function as a bound system of the constituent quarks was considered in framework of the quasipotential method of description of the bound states with a fixed number of particles. In the impulse…
We consider the Hartle-Hawking wavefunction of the universe defined as a Euclidean path integral that satisfies the "no-boundary proposal." We focus on the simplest minisuperspace model that comprises a single scale factor degree of freedom…
The need for a mathematically rigorous quantization procedure of singular spaces and incomplete motions is pointed out in connection with quantum cosmology. We put our previous suggestion for such a procedure, based on the theory of induced…
We investigate whether quantum theory can be understood as the continuum limit of a mechanical theory, in which there is a huge, but finite, number of classical 'worlds', and quantum effects arise solely from a universal interaction between…
The problem of measurement in quantum mechanics is that the quantum particle in the course of evolution, as described by the linear Schrodinger equation, exists in all of its possible states, but in measuring, the particle is always…
Collapse models possibly suggest the need for a better understanding of the structure of space-time. We argue that physical space, and space-time, are emergent features of the Universe, which arise as a result of dynamical collapse of the…
The quantum mechanics description of a physical object stretched in space and stable in time from the relativistic space-time properties point of view, introduced in special theory of relativity, is considered and analysed. The mathematical…
In this review I consider several different issues related to inflation. I will begin with the wave function of the Universe. This issue is pretty old, but recently there were some new insights based on the theory of the self-reproducing…
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…
Quantum effects play an essential role in modern cosmology. Perhaps the most striking example comes from large-scale structures, generally assumed to originate from vacuum quantum fluctuations and stretched by an expansion phase. Inflation…