Universität zu Köln

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:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Chataignier, Leonardo UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0001-6691-3695 UNSPECIFIED
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:	Keywords Language WAVE-FUNCTION; TIME; GRAVITY; MATTER; MINISUPERSPACE; APPROXIMATION; TEMPERATURE; PROBABILITY; DECOHERENCE; DERIVATION Multiple languages Chemistry, Physical; Physics, Multidisciplinary Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/12607