PIRSA:21100026

Unitarity and clock dependence in quantum cosmology

Gielen, S. (2021). Unitarity and clock dependence in quantum cosmology. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/21100026

Gielen, Steffen. Unitarity and clock dependence in quantum cosmology. Perimeter Institute, Oct. 21, 2021, https://pirsa.org/21100026 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:21100026,
            doi = {10.48660/21100026},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/21100026},
            author = {Gielen, Steffen},
            keywords = {Quantum Gravity},
            language = {en},
            title = {Unitarity and clock dependence in quantum cosmology},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2021},
            month = {oct},
            note = {PIRSA:21100026 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }

Steffen Gielen

University of Sheffield

Talk number
PIRSA:21100026
Collection
Talk Type
Subject
Abstract

The problem of time is often discussed as an obstacle in the canonical quantisation of gravitational systems: general covariance means there is no preferred time parameter with respect to which evolution could be defined. We can instead characterise dynamics in relational terms by defining one degree of freedom to play the role of an internal clock for the other variables; this leads to a multiple choice problem of which variable should play the role of clock. I will review recent results obtained in a quantum cosmological model with three dynamical degrees of freedom: a volume or scale factor variable for the geometry, a massless scalar matter field, and a perfect fluid. Each of these variables can be used as a clock for the other two. We obtain three different theories which, if we require them to have unitary time evolution with respect to the given clock, make very different statements about the fate of the Universe. Only one resolves the classical singularity, and only one leads to a quantum recollapse of the Universe at large volume. Nonclassical behaviour arises whenever a classical solution terminates in finite time so that reflecting boundary conditions are needed to make the theory unitary. We discuss general implications for a canonical quantisation of gravitational systems.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/95556457739?pwd=S0dZUVYwTTBOaFNpNGcrc2ladHZ5QT09