Related papers: Did the Pseudo-Sphere Universe have a Beginning?
The proper time of an observer can be introduced as a degree of freedom in quantum cosmology, additional to the existing fields. We review two arguments for using the Schr\"odinger equation to evolve the corresponding wavefunction. We…
The properties of universes are explored that are entirely in the interior of black holes in another universe, a `mother universe'. It is argued that these models offer a paradigm that may shed a new light on old cosmological problems. The…
We study the scalar curvature of spacelike hypersurfaces in the family of cosmological models known as generalized Robertson-Walker spacetimes, and give several rigidity results under appropriate mathematical and physical assumptions. On…
In the framework of Lorentzian warped products, we study the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmological model to investigate non-smooth curvatures associated with multiple discontinuities involved in the evolution of the universe. In…
Vacuum polarization of a massive scalar field in the background of a two-dimensional version of a spinning cosmic string is investigated. It is shown that when the `radius of the universe' is such that spacetime is globally hyperbolic the…
Astrophysical observations indicate the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Applying the holographic entropy conjecture to the cosmological horizon in an accelerating universe suggests the universe has only a finite number of degrees…
We apply the complex de Broglie-Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics [1] to a spatially closed homogeneous and isotropic early Universe whose matter content are radiation and dust perfect fluids. We then show that an expanding classical…
DeWitt's suggestion that the wave function of the universe should vanish at the classical big-bang singularity is here considered within the framework of one-loop quantum cosmology. For pure gravity at one loop about a flat four-dimensional…
Different proposals for the wave function of the universe are analyzed, with an emphasis on various forms of the tunneling proposal. The issues discussed include the equivalence of the Lorentzian path integral and outgoing-wave proposals,…
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…
Using a novel, string theory-inspired formalism based on a Hamiltonian constraint, we obtain a conformal mechanical system for the spatially flat four-dimensional Robertson-Walker Universe. Depending on parameter choices, this system…
We explore the possibility that the entire departure of galactic rotational velocities from their luminous Newtonian expectation be cosmological in origin, and show that within the framework of conformal gravity (but not Einstein gravity…
We study the statistical mechanics of the early radiation dominated universe in the context of a generalized uncertainty principle which supports the existence of a minimal length scale. Utilizing the resultant modified thermodynamical…
We discuss a formalism where a universe is identified with the support of a wave function propagating through space-time. As opposed to classical cosmology, the resulting universe is not a spacelike section of some space-time, but a…
We elaborate on the correspondence between the canonical partition function in asymptotically AdS universes and the no-boundary proposal for positive vacuum energy. For the case of a pure cosmological constant, the analytic continuation of…
In quantum cosmology, one has to select a specific wave function solution of the quantum state equations under consideration in order to obtain concrete results. The simplest choices have been already explored, in different frameworks,…
The early history of the universe might be described by a topological phase followed by a standard second phase of Einstein gravity. To study this scenario in its full generality, we consider a four-manifold of Euclidean signature in the…
For a FRW-spacetime coupled to an arbitrary real scalar field, we endow the solution space of the associated Wheeler-DeWitt equation with a Hilbert-space structure, construct the observables, and introduce the physical wave functions of the…
If the universe has a nontrivial shape (topology) the sky may show multiple correlated images of cosmic objects. These correlations can be couched in terms of distance correlations. We propose a statistical quantity which can be used to…
We consider a Bohmian approach to the Wheeler-DeWitt quantization of the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker model and investigate the question whether or not there are singularities, in the sense that the universe reaches zero volume. We…