An Extension of the Quantum Theory of Cosmological Perturbations to the Planck Era

DOI10.1103/PHYSREVD.87.043507arXiv1211.1354MaRDI QIDQ6236952FDOQ6236952

Abhay Ashtekar, Ivan Agullo, William Nelson

Publication date: 6 November 2012

Abstract: Cosmological perturbations are generally described by quantum fields on (curved but) classical space-times. While this strategy has a large domain of validity, it can not be justified in the quantum gravity era where curvature and matter densities are of Planck scale. Using techniques from loop quantum gravity, the standard theory of cosmological perturbations is extended to overcome this limitation. The new framework sharpens conceptual issues by distinguishing between the true and apparent trans-Planckian difficulties and provides sufficient conditions under which the true difficulties can be overcome within a quantum gravity theory. In a companion paper, this framework is applied to the standard inflationary model, with interesting implications to theory as well as observations.

This page was built for publication: An Extension of the Quantum Theory of Cosmological Perturbations to the Planck Era

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q6236952)