Related papers: Semiclassical Universe from First Principles
In the present work we revisit a model consisting of a scalar field with a quartic self-interaction potential non-minimally (conformally) coupled to gravity [1]. When the scalar field vacuum is in a broken symmetry state, an effective…
We study a novel class of nonsingular time-symmetric cosmological bounces. In this class of four dimensional models the bounce is induced by a perfect fluid with a negative energy density. Metric perturbations are solved in an analytic way…
Quantum fields do not satisfy the pointwise energy conditions that are assumed in the original singularity theorems of Penrose and Hawking. Accordingly, semiclassical quantum gravity lies outside their scope. Although a number of…
Causal Dynamical Triangulations is a non-perturbative quantum gravity model, defined with a lattice cut-off. The model can be viewed as defined with a proper time but with no reference to any three-dimensional spatial background geometry.…
We give a consistent description of how the inflationary Universe emerges in quantum cosmology. This involves two steps: Firstly, it is shown that a sensible probability peak can be obtained from the cosmological wave function. This is…
The semiclassical interaction of the gravitational with a quantum scalar field is considered, in view of the renormalizability of the associated energy-momentum tensor in a n-dimensional curved spacetime resulting from a quadratic…
Besides the purely digital or analog interpretation of reality there is a third possibility which incorporates important aspects of both. This is the cyclic formulation of elementary systems, in which elementary particles are represented as…
We consider the possibility to produce a bouncing universe in the framework of scalar-tensor gravity models in which the scalar field potential may be negative, and even unbounded from below. We find a set of viable solutions with nonzero…
Quantum theory is extremely successful in explaining most physical phenomena, and is not contradicted by any experiment. Yet, the theory has many puzzling features : the occurrence of probabilities, the unclear distinction between the…
We review the general features of nonsingular universes ({\em i.e.} those that go from an era of accelerated collapse to an expanding era without displaying a singularity) as well as cyclic universes. We discuss the mechanisms behind the…
A classical dynamical system in a four-dimensional Euclidean space with universal time is considered. The space is hypothesized to be originally occupied by a uniform substance, pictured as a liquid, which at some time became supercooled.…
We sketch the semiclassical core of a proof of the so-called Bohigas-Giannoni-Schmit conjecture: A dynamical system with full classical chaos has a quantum energy spectrum with universal fluctuations on the scale of the mean level spacing.…
The aim of the causal dynamical triangulations approach is to define nonperturbatively a quantum theory of gravity as the continuum limit of a lattice-regularized model of dynamical geometry. My aim in this paper is to give a concise yet…
Quantum theory expresses the observable relations between physical properties in terms of probabilities that depend on the specific context described by the "state" of a system. However, the laws of physics that emerge at the macroscopic…
Combining intervals of ekpyrotic (ultra-slow) contraction with a (non-singular) classical bounce naturally leads to a novel cyclic theory of the universe in which the Hubble parameter, energy density and temperature oscillate periodically,…
We investigate the geometry of a quantum universe with the topology of the four-torus. The study of non-contractible geodesic loops reveals that a typical quantum geometry consists of a small semi-classical toroidal bulk part, dressed with…
A complete model of the universe needs at least three parts: (1) a complete set of physical variables and dynamical laws for them, (2) the correct solution of the dynamical laws, and (3) the connection with conscious experience. In quantum…
We study the back-reaction of quantum systems onto classical ones. Taking the starting point that semi-classical physics should be described at all times by a point in classical phase space and a quantum state in Hilbert space, we consider…
In this short note we review a recently found formulation of two-dimensional causal quantum gravity defined through Causal Dynamical Triangulations and stochastic quantization. This procedure enables one to extract the nonperturbative…
We attempt to treat the very early Universe according to quantum mechanics. Identifying the scale factor of the Universe with the width of the wave packet associated with it, we show that there cannot be an initial singularity and that the…