Chataignier, Leonardo ORCID: 0000-0001-6691-3695 (2019). Gauge Fixing and the Semiclassical Interpretation of Quantum Cosmology. Z. Naturfors. Sect. A-J. Phys. Sci., 74 (12). S. 1069 - 1099. BERLIN: WALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH. ISSN 1865-7109

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Abstract

We make a critical review of the semiclassical interpretation of quantum cosmology and emphasise that it is not necessary to consider that a concept of time emerges only when the gravitational field is (semi)classical. We show that the usual results of the semiclassical interpretation and its generalisation known as the Born-Oppenheimer approach to quantum cosmology can be obtained by gauge fixing, both at the classical and quantum levels. By gauge fixing, we mean a particular choice of the time coordinate, which determines the arbitrary Lagrange multiplier that appears in Hamilton's equations. In the quantum theory, we adopt a tentative definition of the (Klein-Gordon) inner product, which is positive definite for solutions of the quantum constraint equation found via an iterative procedure that corresponds to a weak coupling expansion in powers of the inverse Planck mass. We conclude that the wave function should be interpreted as a state vector for both gravitational and matter degrees of freedom, the dynamics of which is unitary with respect to the chosen inner product and time variable.

Item Type: Journal Article
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCIDORCID Put Code
Chataignier, LeonardoUNSPECIFIEDorcid.org/0000-0001-6691-3695UNSPECIFIED
URN: urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-126079
DOI: 10.1515/zna-2019-0223
Journal or Publication Title: Z. Naturfors. Sect. A-J. Phys. Sci.
Volume: 74
Number: 12
Page Range: S. 1069 - 1099
Date: 2019
Publisher: WALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH
Place of Publication: BERLIN
ISSN: 1865-7109
Language: English
Faculty: Unspecified
Divisions: Unspecified
Subjects: no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:
KeywordsLanguage
WAVE-FUNCTION; TIME; GRAVITY; MATTER; MINISUPERSPACE; APPROXIMATION; TEMPERATURE; PROBABILITY; DECOHERENCE; DERIVATIONMultiple languages
Chemistry, Physical; Physics, MultidisciplinaryMultiple languages
Refereed: Yes
URI: http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/12607

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