Abstract
In this paper we present a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmological model conformally coupled to a masive scalar field where the WKB approximation fails to reproduce the exact solution to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation for large universes. The breakdown of the WKB approximation follows the same pattern as in semiclassical physics of chaotic systems, and it is associated with the development of small scale structure in the wave function. This result puts in doubt the ‘‘WKB interpretation’’ of quantum cosmology.
- Received 16 November 1994
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.51.6821
©1995 American Physical Society
