Gravitational constrained instantons
Jordan Cotler, Kristan Jensen
Abstract
The authors find constrained instantons -- configurations that extremize the action subject to a constraint -- in Einstein gravity with and without a cosmological constant. Such instantons are expected to contribute to non-perturbative processes in quantum gravity. With negative cosmological constant, these configurations describe wormholes connecting two asymptotic regions.
Topics & Concepts
WormholeCosmological constantPhysicsInstantonBig CrunchEinsteinTheoretical physicsDark energyDe Sitter universeGravitationSaddle pointMathematical physicsClassical mechanicsCosmologyQuantum mechanicsUniverseGeometryMathematicsSteady State theoryBlack Holes and Theoretical PhysicsCosmology and Gravitation TheoriesNoncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories