Related papers: "It from Bit": The Hartle-Hawking state and quantu…
The quantum states or Hilbert spaces for the quantum field theory in de Sitter space-time are studied on ambient space formalism. In this formalism, the quantum states are only depended $(1)$ on the topological character of the de Sitter…
Multiple lines of evidence suggest that the Hilbert space of an isolated de Sitter universe is one dimensional but can appear larger when probed by a gravitating observer. To test this idea, we compute the von Neumann entropy of a field…
It is widely accepted that the states of any quantum system are vectors in a Hilbert space. Not everyone agrees, however. The recent paper ``The unphysicality of Hilbert spaces'' by Carcassi, Calder\'on and Aidala is a thoughtful dissection…
We argue that the notion of entanglement in de Sitter space arises naturally from the non-trivial Lorentzian geometry of the spacetime manifold, which consists of two disconnected boundaries and a causally disconnected interior. In four…
On the basis of a number of Swampland conditions, we argue that the Hilbert space of baby universe states must be one-dimensional in a consistent theory of quantum gravity. This scenario may be interpreted as a type of "Gauss's law for…
We investigate the possibility that, in a combined theory of quantum mechanics and gravity, de Sitter space is described by finitely many states. The notion of observer complementarity, which states that each observer has complete but…
The finite entropy of de Sitter space suggests that in a theory of quantum gravity there are only finitely many states. It has been argued that in this case there is no action of the de Sitter group consistent with unitarity. In this note…
We discuss some general properties of quantum gravity in De Sitter space. It has been argued that the Hilbert space is of finite dimension. This suggests a macroscopic argument that General Relativity cannot be quantized -- unless it is…
We propose that for every event in de Sitter space, there is a CPT-conjugate event at its antipode. Such an ``elliptic'' $Z_2$-identification of de Sitter space provides a concrete realization of observer complementarity: every observer has…
Perturbative gravity about a de Sitter background motivates a global picture of quantum dynamics in `eternal de Sitter space,' the theory of states which are asymptotically de Sitter to both future and past. Eternal de Sitter physics is…
Recent developments in gravitational path integrals indicate that the nonperturbative physical Hilbert space of a closed universe is one-dimensional within each superselection sector. This raises a basic puzzle: how can a unique…
We consider quantum cosmology for toroidal universes in d+1 dimensions. The Hilbert space is the space of square-integrable automorphic forms for GL(d). The Hartle-Hawking state is defined as a Poincar\'e sum over the no-boundary…
The long wavelength physics in a de Sitter region depends on the initial quantum state. While such long wavelength physics is under control for massive fields near the Hartle-Hawking vacuum state, such initial states make unnatural…
We study de Sitter JT gravity in the canonical formulation to illustrate constructions of Hilbert spaces in quantum gravity, which is challenging due to the Hamiltonian constraints. The key ideas include representing states as "invariants"…
Recent arguments based on the quantum extremal surface formula or the gravitational path integral have given fairly compelling evidence that the Hilbert space of quantum gravity in a closed universe is one-dimensional and real. How can this…
A conceptual difficulty in the foundations of quantum mechanics is the quantum measurement problem (QMP), essentially concerned with the apparent non-unitarity of the measurement process and the classicality of macroscopic systems. In an…
As an attempt to realize Wheeler's "it-from-bit proposal" that physics should be reduced to simple yes-no questions we consider a model of loop quantum gravity, where the only allowed values of the quantum numbers $j_p$ at the punctures of…
We study the momentum-space entanglement between the sub- and super-Hubble modes of a spectator scalar field, with a cubic $\lambda \phi^3$ interaction, in de Sitter space. Momentum-space entanglement has some universal properties for any…
We revisit whether a semiclassical closed baby universe in AdS/CFT necessarily possess a trivial one-dimensional Hilbert space or may instead carry a large entropy. Recent results on Haar random encoding suggest a breakdown of complementary…
We argue that Hilbert spaces are not suitable to represent quantum states mathematically, in the sense that they require properties that are untenable by physical entities. We first demonstrate that the requirements posited by complex inner…