Orbifolds, Quantum Cosmology, and Nontrivial Topology
نویسنده
چکیده
In order to include nontrivial spatial topologies in the problem of quantum creation of a universe, it seems to be necessary to generalize the sum over compact, smooth 4-manifolds to a sum over finitevolume, compact 4-orbifolds. We consider in detail the case of a 4spherical orbifold with a cone-point singularity. This allows for the inclusion of a nontrivial topology in the semiclassical path integral approach to quantum cosmology, in the context of a Robertson-Walker minisuperspace.
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