Quantum cosmology
Claus Kiefer, Barbara Sandhöfer
Abstract
Abstract We give an introduction into quantum cosmology with emphasis on its conceptual parts. After a general motivation, we review the formalism of canonical quantum gravity on which discussions of quantum cosmology are usually based. We then present the minisuperspace Wheeler–DeWitt equation and elaborate on the problem of time, the imposition of boundary conditions, the semiclassical approximation, the origin of irreversibility, and singularity avoidance. Restriction is made to the framework of quantum geometrodynamics.
Topics & Concepts
MinisuperspaceQuantum cosmologyLoop quantum cosmologyPhysicsSemiclassical physicsWheeler–DeWitt equationQuantum gravityCosmologyQuantumTheoretical physicsClassical mechanicsSingularityFormalism (music)Problem of timeMathematical physicsQuantum mechanicsMathematicsGeometryVisual artsMusicalArtNoncommutative and Quantum Gravity TheoriesCosmology and Gravitation TheoriesBlack Holes and Theoretical Physics