Bouncing with shear: implications from quantum cosmology

DOI10.1088/1475-7516/2022/01/008zbMATH Open1486.83045arXiv2109.08696OpenAlexW4205808839MaRDI QIDQ5863282FDOQ5863282

Authors: Karthik Rajeev, Vikramaditya Mondal, Sumanta Chakraborty 

Publication date: 11 March 2022

Published in: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We consider the introduction of anisotropy in a class of bouncing models of cosmology. The presence of anisotropy often spells doom on bouncing models, since the energy density due to the anisotropic stress outweighs that of other matter components, as the universe contracts. Different suggestions have been made in the literature to resolve this pathology, classically. Here, we introduce a family of bouncing models, in which the shear density can be tuned to either allow or forbid classical bouncing scenarios. Following this, we show that quantum cosmological considerations can drastically change the above scenario. Most importantly, we find that quantum effects can enable a bounce, even when the anisotropic stress is large enough to forbid the same classically. We employ the solutions of the appropriate mini-superspace Wheeler-DeWitt equation for homogeneous, but anisotropic cosmologies, with the boundary condition that the universe is initially contracting. Intriguingly, the solution to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation exhibit an interesting phase transition-like behaviour, wherein, the probability to have a bouncing universe is precisely unity before the shear density reaches a critical value and then starts to decrease abruptly as the shear density increases further. We verified our findings using the tools of the Lorentzian quantum cosmology, along with the application of the Picard-Lefschetz theory. In particular, the semi-classical probability for a bounce has been re-derived from the imaginary component of the on-shell effective action, evaluated at the complex saddle points. Implications and future directions have also been discussed.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.08696

zbMATH Keywords

quantum cosmologyphysics of the early universealternatives to inflationcosmic singularity

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Functional analysis on superspaces (supermanifolds) or graded spaces (46S60) Boundary value problems on manifolds (58J32) Quantization of the gravitational field (83C45) Space-time singularities, cosmic censorship, etc. (83C75) Relativistic cosmology (83F05) Anisotropy in solid mechanics (74E10) Geometrodynamics and the holographic principle (83E05)

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Cited In (6)

• Wave function of the universe in the presence of trans-Planckian censorship
• Vacuum decay in the Lorentzian path integral
• Complex saddles and euclidean wormholes in the Lorentzian path integral
• Quantum driven bounce of the future universe
• Distinguishing cosmological models through quantum signatures of primordial perturbations
• Bouncing and coasting universe with exact quantum-classical correspondence

Uses Software

• Digital Library of Mathematical Functions

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