The Bohm interpretation of quantum cosmology (Q816136)

The author applies the Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics to quantum cosmology. In this approach, the configuration variables, the metrical components of the space-like hypersurfaces of an assumed foliation, and their canonical momenta, the components of the extrinsic curvature of the hypersurfaces, are supposed to exist independently of any observation or measurement. Writing the wave functional in polar form, the Wheeler-DeWitt equation provides an equation describing the evolution of the 3-geometry labeled by the foliation-time parameter. The evolution equation is different from the classical one, due to the presence of a supplementary term interpreted as quantum potential. After summarizing the canonical formulation of general relativity theory and the Bohm interpretation of canonical quantum gravity, in the framework of minisuperspaces models, cosmological applications are reviewed. It is shown how this approach can avoid the initial singularity and explain the isotropization of the universe. Finally, in the general case, the possible structures of quantum space and time are enumerated.