Quantum Nature of the Big Bang

Abhay Ashtekar, Tomasz Pawlowski, and Parampreet Singh
Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 141301 – Published 12 April 2006

Abstract

Some long-standing issues concerning the quantum nature of the big bang are resolved in the context of homogeneous isotropic models with a scalar field. Specifically, the known results on the resolution of the big-bang singularity in loop quantum cosmology are significantly extended as follows: (i) the scalar field is shown to serve as an internal clock, thereby providing a detailed realization of the “emergent time” idea; (ii) the physical Hilbert space, Dirac observables, and semiclassical states are constructed rigorously; (iii) the Hamiltonian constraint is solved numerically to show that the big bang is replaced by a big bounce. Thanks to the nonperturbative, background independent methods, unlike in other approaches the quantum evolution is deterministic across the deep Planck regime.

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  • Received 22 February 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.141301

©2006 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Abhay Ashtekar*, Tomasz Pawlowski, and Parampreet Singh

  • Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry, Physics Department, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA

  • *Electronic address: ashtekar@gravity.psu.edu
  • Electronic address: pawlowsk@gravity.psu.edu
  • Electronic address: singh@gravity.psu.edu

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Issue

Vol. 96, Iss. 14 — 14 April 2006

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