Quantum Fluctuations in Cosmology and How They Lead to a Multiverse∗
نویسنده
چکیده
This article discusses density perturbations in inflationary models, offering a pedagogical description of how these perturbations are generated by quantum fluctuations in the early universe. A key feature of inflation is that that rapid expansion can stretch microscopic fluctuations to cosmological proportions. I discuss also another important conseqence of quantum fluctuations: the fact that almost all inflationary models become eternal, so that once inflation starts, it never stops.
منابع مشابه
N ov 1 99 5 Predictions from Quantum Cosmology
After reviewing the general ideas of quantum cosmology (Wheeler-DeWitt equation, boundary conditions, interpretation of ψ), I discuss how these ideas can be tested observationally. Observational predictions differ for different choices of boundary conditions. With tunneling boundary conditions, ψ favors initial states that lead to inflation, while with Hartle-Hawking boundary conditions it does...
متن کاملRetroduction, Multiverse Hypotheses and Their Testability*
The actual existence of collections of universes – multiverses – is strongly suggested by leading approaches to quantum cosmology, and has been proposed earlier as an attractive way to explain the apparent fine-tuned character of our universe. But, how can such hypotheses be tested? After briefly discussing the key distinction between possible and really existing multiverses, and the importance...
متن کامل2-point functions in quantum cosmology
Abstract. We discuss the path-integral formulation of quantum cosmology with a massless scalar field as a sum-over-histories, with particular reference to loop quantum cosmology. Exploiting the analogy with the relativistic particle, we give a complete overview of the possible two-point functions, deriving vertex expansions and composition laws they satisfy. We clarify the tie between definitio...
متن کاملThree Aspects of Typicality in Multiverse Cosmology
Extracting predictions from cosmological theories that describe a multiverse, for what we are likely to observe in our domain, is crucial to establishing the validity of these theories. One way to extract such predictions is from theorygenerated probability distributions that allow for selection effects—generally expressed in terms of assumptions about anthropic conditionalization and how typic...
متن کاملTwo-point functions in (loop) quantum cosmology
The path-integral formulation of quantum cosmology with a massless scalar field as a sum-over-histories of volume transitions is discussed, with particular but non-exclusive reference to loop quantum cosmology. Exploiting the analogy with the relativistic particle, we give a complete overview of the possible two-point functions, pointing out the choices involved in their definitions, deriving t...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
دوره شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2013