The dynamics of an inhomogeneous universe is studied with the methods of Loop Quantum Cosmology as an example of the quantization of vacuum cosmological spacetimes containing gravitational waves (Gowdy spacetimes). The analysis performed at the effective level shows that: (i) The initial Big Bang singularity is replaced (as in the case of homogeneous cosmological models) by a Big Bounce, joining deterministically two large universes, (ii) the universe size at the bounce is at least of the same order of magnitude as that of the background homogeneous universe, (iii) for each gravitational wave mode, the difference in amplitude at very early and very late times has a vanishing statistical average when the bounce dynamics is strongly dominated by the inhomogeneities, whereas this average is positive when the dynamics is in a near-vacuum regime, so that statistically the inhomogeneities are amplified.
The four-fermion gravitational interaction is induced by torsion, and gets dominating on the Planck scale. The regular, axial-axial part of this interaction by itself does not stop the gravitational compression. However, the anomalous, vector-vector interaction results in a natural way both in big bounce and in inflation.
We examine the nature of the cosmological Big Bounce transition within the loop geometry underlying loop quantum cosmology at classical and quantum levels. Our canonical quantization method is an alternative to the standard loop quantum cosmology. An evolution parameter we use has a clear interpretation. Our method opens the door for analyses of spectra of physical observables like the energy density and the volume operator. We find that one cannot determine the energy scale specific to the Big Bounce by making use of the loop geometry without an extra input from observational cosmology.
This brief article sums up the possible imprints of loop quantum gravity effects on the cosmological microwave background. We focus on semi-classical terms and show that "Big Bounce" corrections, together with the "pre Big Bounce" state, could modify the observed spectrum.
An alternative to the Big Bang cosmologies is obtained by the Big Bounce cosmologies. In this paper, we study a bounce cosmology with a Type IV singularity occurring at the bouncing point, in the context of $F(R)$ modified gravity. We investigate the evolution of the Hubble radius and we examine the issue of primordial cosmological perturbations in detail. As we demonstrate, for the singular bounce, the primordial perturbations originating from the cosmological era near the bounce, do not produce a scale invariant spectrum and also the short wavelength modes, after these exit the horizon, do n…
The big bounce (BB) transition within a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker model is analyzed in the setting of loop geometry underlying the loop cosmology. We solve the constraint of the theory at the classical level to identify physical phase space and find the Lie algebra of the Dirac observables. We express energy density of matter and geometrical functions in terms of the observables. It is the modification of classical theory by the loop geometry that is responsible for BB. The classical energy scale specific to BB depends on a parameter that should be fixed either by cosmological data or de…
We analyze the big bounce transition of the quantum FRW model in the setting of the nonstandard loop quantum cosmology (LQC). Elementary observables are used to quantize compound observables. The spectrum of the energy density operator is bounded and continuous. The spectrum of the volume operator is bounded from below and discrete. It has equally distant levels defining a quantum of the volume. The discreteness may imply a foamy structure of spacetime at semiclassical level which may be detected in astro-cosmo observations. The nonstandard LQC method has a free parameter that should be fixed …
We analyze the big bounce transition of the quantum FRW model in the setting of the nonstandard loop quantum cosmology (LQC). Elementary observables are used to quantize composite observables. The spectrum of the energy density operator is bounded and continuous. The spectrum of the volume operator is bounded from below and discrete. It has equally distant levels defining a quantum of the volume. The discreteness may imply a foamy structure of spacetime at semiclassical level which may be detected in astro-cosmo observations. The nonstandard LQC method has a free parameter that should be fixed…
We examine the cosmological sector of a gauge theory of gravity based on the SO(4,2) conformal group of Minkowski space. We allow for conventional matter coupled to the spacetime metric as well as matter coupled to the field that gauges special conformal transformations. An effective cosmological constant is generated dynamically via solution of the equations of motion, and this allows us to recover the late time acceleration of the universe. Furthermore, gravitational fields sourced by ordinary cosmological matter (i.e. dust and radiation) are significantly weakened in the very early universe…
We derive the cosmological Big Bounce scenario from the dipole approximation of Loop Quantum Gravity. We show that a non-singular evolution takes place for any matter field and that, by considering a massless scalar field as a relational clock for the dynamics, the semi-classical proprieties of an initial state are preserved on the other side of the bounce. This model thus enhances the relation between Loop Quantum Cosmology and the full theory.
We analyze the dynamics of a homogeneous and isotropic universe in the Einstein--Cartan theory of gravity. The spin of fermions produces spacetime torsion that prevents gravitational singularities and replaces the big bang with a nonsingular big bounce. We show that a closed universe exists only when a particular function of its scale factor and temperature is higher than some threshold value, whereas an open and a flat universes do not have such a restriction. We also show that a bounce of the scale factor is double: as the temperature increases and then decreases, the scale factor decreases,…
Assuming the existence of a scalar field which undergoes "ghost condensation" and which has a suitably chosen potential, it is possible to obtain a non-singular bouncing cosmology in the presence of regular matter and radiation. The potential for the ghost condensate field can be chosen such that the cosmological bounce is stable against the presence of anisotropic stress. Cosmological fluctuations on long wavelengths relevant to current cosmological observations pass through the bounce unaffected by the new physics which yields the bounce. Thus, this model allows for the realization of the "m…
Bouncing cosmologies, suggested by String/M-theory, may provide an alternative to standard inflation to account for the origin of inhomogeneities in our universe. The fundamental question regards the correct way to evolve the scalar perturbations through the bounce. In this work, we determine the evolution of perturbations and the final spectrum for an arbitrary (spatially flat) bouncing cosmology, with the only assumption that the bounce is governed by a single physical scale. In particular, we find that the spectrum of the pre-bounce growing mode of the Bardeen potential (which is scale-inva…
The propagation of a scalar field in an open FLRW bounce-type quantum spacetime is examined, which arises within the framework of the IKKT matrix theory. In the first part of the paper, we employ general-relativity tools to study null and timelike geodesics at the classical level. This analysis reveals that massless and massive non-interacting particles can travel across the big bounce. We then exploit quantum-field-theory techniques to evaluate the scalar field propagator. In the late-time regime, we find that it resembles the standard Feynman propagator of flat Minkowski space, whereas for e…
In this paper we study possible observational consequences of the bouncing cosmology. We consider a model where a phase of inflation is preceded by a cosmic bounce. While we consider in this paper only that the bounce is due to loop quantum gravity, most of the results presented here can be applied for different bouncing cosmologies. We concentrate on the scenario where the scalar field, as the result of contraction of the universe, is driven from the bottom of the potential well. The field is amplified, and finally the phase of the standard slow-roll inflation is realized. Such an evolution m…
The Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity naturally extends general relativity to account for the intrinsic spin of matter. Spacetime torsion, generated by spin of Dirac fields, induces gravitational repulsion in fermionic matter at extremely high densities and prevents the formation of singularities. Accordingly, the big bang is replaced by a bounce that occurred when the energy density $ε\propto gT^4$ was on the order of $n^2/m_\textrm{Pl}^2$ (in natural units), where $n\propto gT^3$ is the fermion number density and $g$ is the number of thermal degrees of freedom. If the early Uni…
The properties of an extension of the New Massive 3D Gravity by scalar matter with Higgs-like self-interaction are investigated. Its perturbative unitarity consistency is verified for a family of cosmological Bounce solutions found by the superpotential method. They correspond to the lower bound ${λ= -1}$ of the BHT unitarity window and describe eternally accelerated 3D Universe between two initial/final stable $dS_3$ vacua states.
We analyze the dynamics of a homogeneous and isotropic universe in the Einstein$--$Cartan theory of gravity. The coupling between the spin and torsion prevents gravitational singularities and replaces the Big Bang with a nonsingular big bounce, at which the universe transitions from contraction to expansion. We show that a closed universe exists only when the product of the scale factor and temperature is higher than a particular threshold, contrary to a flat universe and an open universe, which are not restricted. During inflation, this product must increase to another threshold, so that the …
One of the greatest problems of primordial inflation is that the inflationary space-time is past-incomplete. This is mainly because Einstein's GR suffers from a space-like Big Bang singularity. It has recently been shown that ghost-free, non-local higher-derivative ultra-violet modifications of Einstein's gravity may be able to resolve the cosmological Big Bang singularity via a non-singular bounce. Within the framework of such non-local cosmological models, we are going to study both sub- and super-Hubble perturbations around an inflationary trajectory which is preceded by the Big Bounce in t…
We report on the possibility to use dark matter particle's mass and its cross section as a smoking gun signal of the existence of a Big Bounce at the early stage in the evolution of our currently observed universe. A model independent study of dark matter production in the pre-bounce contraction and the post-bounce expansion epochs of the bounce universe reveals a new venue for achieving the observed relic abundance of our present universe, in which a significantly smaller amount of dark matter with a smaller cross section -- as compared to the prediction of Standard Cosmology -- is produced a…
The absence of isotropic singularity in loop quantum cosmology can be understood in an effective classical description as the universe exhibiting a Big Bounce. We show that with scalar matter field, the big bounce is generic in the sense that it is independent of quantization ambiguities and details of scalar field dynamics. The volume of the universe at the bounce point is parametrized by a single parameter. It provides a minimum length scale which serves as a cut-off for computations of density perturbations thereby influencing their amplitudes.
The Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity removes the constraint of general relativity that the affine connection be symmetric by regarding its antisymmetric part, the torsion tensor, as a dynamical variable. The minimal coupling between the torsion tensor and Dirac spinors generates a spin-spin interaction which is significant in fermionic matter at extremely high densities. We show that such an interaction averts the unphysical big-bang singularity, replacing it with a cusp-like bounce at a finite minimum scale factor, before which the Universe was contracting. This scenario also e…
Exact global solutions of five-dimensional cosmological models compactified on a $S_1/Z_2$ orbifold with two 3-branes are presented, and evolution of a simple model is studied. It is found that on all 4D spacetime hypersurfaces, except a singular one, the expanding universe was started not from a big bang but from a big bounce, and before the bounce the universe was in a deflationary contracting phase. It is also found that whether the energy density on the second brane is positive, zero, or negative depends on the size of the fifth dimension.
Torsion is a geometrical object, required by quantum mechanics in curved spacetime, which may naturally solve fundamental problems of general theory of relativity and cosmology. The black-hole cosmology, resulting from torsion, could be a scenario uniting the ideas of the big bounce and inflation, which were the subject of a recent debate of renowned cosmologists.
String-inspired cosmologies, whereby a non-singular curvature bounce is induced by a general-covariant, $T$-duality-invariant, non-local dilaton potential, are used to study numerically how inhomogeneities evolve and to compare the outcome with analytic expressions obtained through different matching conditions across the bounce. Good agreement is found if continuity across the bounce is assumed to hold for $\cal{R}$, the curvature perturbation on comoving hypersurfaces, rather than for the Bardeen potential.
Cosmological models where the standard big bang is replaced by a bounce have been studied for decades. The situation has, however, dramatically changed in the past years for two reasons: first, because new ways to probe the early Universe have emerged, in particular, thanks to the cosmic microwave background, and second, because some well grounded theories -especially loop quantum cosmology- unambiguously predict a bounce, at least for homogeneous models. In this article, we investigate into the details the phenomenological parameters that could be constrained or measured by next-generation B-…
The big bang singularity of the expanding-universe Friedmann solution of the Einstein gravitational field equation can be regularized by the introduction of a degenerate metric and a nonzero length scale $b$. The result is a nonsingular bounce of the cosmic scale factor with a contracting prebounce phase and an expanding postbounce phase. The corresponding maximum values of the curvature and the energy density occur at the moment of the bounce and are proportional to powers of $1/b$. This article presents a detailed calculation of the dynamics of such a nonsingular bounce. In addition, a compa…
A gauge-invariant quantum theory of the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe with dust is studied in terms of the Ashtekar variables. We use the reduced phase space quantization which has following advantages: (i) fundamental variables are all gauge invariant, (ii) there exists a physical time evolution of gauge-invariant quantities, so that the problem of time is absent and (iii) the reduced phase space can be quantized in the same manner as in ordinary quantum mechanics. In the FRW model, the dynamical components of the Ashtekar variables are given by a single quantity $p$ and its conju…
The usual Einstein's equations is modified as a one parameter family of equations in the framework of rainbow gravity. In this paper we derive the modified Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) equations when the cosmological evolution of radiation particles is taken into account. In particular, given some specific dispersion relations, the big bounce solutions to the modified FRW equations can be derived. Notably, to obtain a well defined rainbow metric at the moment of the big bounce, we find it seems necessary to introduce a cosmological constant which depends on the energy of probes as well, im…
The big bounce singularity of a simple 5D cosmological model is studied. Contrary to the standard big bang space-time singularity, this big bounce singularity is found to be an event horizon at which the scale factor and the mass density of the universe are finite, while the pressure undergoes a sudden transition from negative infinity to positive infinity. By using coordinate transformation it is also shown that before the bounce the universe contracts deflationary, and the universe has been existed, according to the proper-time, for an infinitely long time.
We investigate the convergence behaviors of the scalar and the vector perturbations for a big bounce phase in loop quantum cosmology. Two models are discussed: one is the universe filled by a massless scalar field; the other is a toy model which is radiation-dominated in the asymptotic past and future. We find that the behaviors of the Bardeen potential of the scalar mode near both the bounce point and the transition point of the null energy condition are good, moreover, the unlimited growth of the vector perturbation can be avoided in our bounce model. This is different from the bounce models…
Loop quantum cosmology homogeneous models with a massless scalar field show that the big-bang singularity can be replaced by a big quantum bounce. To gain further insight on the nature of this bounce, we study the semi-discrete loop quantum gravity Hamiltonian constraint equation from the point of view of numerical analysis. For illustration purposes, we establish a numerical analogy between the quantum bounces and reflections in finite difference discretizations of wave equations triggered by the use of nonuniform grids or, equivalently, reflections found when solving numerically wave equatio…
In pre-big-bang string cosmology one uses a phase of dilaton-driven inflation to stretch an initial (microscopic) spatial patch to the (much larger) size of the big-bang fireball. We show that the dilaton-driven inflationary phase does not naturally iron out the initial classical tensor inhomogeneities unless the initial value of the string coupling is smaller than 10^(-35).
We consider the thermodynamical behavior of Banks-Zaks theory close to the conformal point in a cosmological setting. Due to the anomalous dimension, the resulting pressure and energy density deviate from that of radiation and result in various interesting cosmological scenarios. Specifically, for a given range of parameters one avoids the cosmological singularity. We provide a full "phase diagram" of possible Universe evolution for the given parameters. For a certain range of parameters, the thermal averaged Banks-Zaks theory alone results in an exponentially contracting universe followed by …
A bounce universe model, known as the coupled-scalar-tachyon bounce (CSTB) universe, has been shown to solve the Horizon, Flatness and Homogeneity problems as well as the Big Bang Singularity problem. Furthermore a scale invariant spectrum of primordial density perturbations generated from the phase of pre-bounce contraction is shown to be stable against time evolution. In this work we study the detailed dynamics of the bounce and its imprints on the scale invariance of the spectrum. The dynamics of the gravitational interactions near the bounce point may be strongly coupled as the spatial cur…
We examine the nature of the cosmological big-bounce (BB) transition within the loop geometry underlying Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC) at classical and quantum levels. Our canonical quantization method is an alternative to the standard LQC. Our method opens the door for analyzes of spectra of physical observables like energy density and volume operator. We find that one cannot determine the energy scale specific to BB by making use of the loop geometry without an extra input from observational cosmology.
We give a prescription to define in Loop Quantum Gravity the electric field operator related to the scale factor of an homogeneous and isotropic cosmological space-time. This procedure allows to link the fundamental theory with its cosmological implementation. In view of the conjugate relation existing between holonomies and fluxes, the edge length and the area of surfaces in the fiducial metric satisfy a duality condition. As a consequence, the area operator has a discrete spectrum also in Loop Quantum Cosmology. This feature makes the super-Hamiltonian regularization an open issue of the who…
In this paper we investigate gravitational waves production during the Big Bounce phase inspired by the Loop Quantum Cosmology. We consider the influence of the holonomy corrections to the equation for tensor modes. We show that they act like additional effective graviton mass, suppressing gravitational waves creation. However, this effects can be treated perturbatively. We investigate the simplified model without these corrections and find its exact analytical solution. For this model we calculate a spectrum of the gravitational waves from the Big Bounce phase. The obtained spectrum decreases…
We consider evolutions of linear fluctuations as the background Friedmann world model goes from contracting to expanding phases through smooth and non-singular bouncing phases. As long as the gravity dominates over the pressure gradient in the perturbation equation the growing-mode in the expanding phase is characterized by a conserved amplitude, we call it a C-mode. In the spherical geometry with a pressureless medium, we show that there exists a special gauge-invariant combination Φwhich stays constant throughout the evolution from the big-bang to the big-crunch with the same value even afte…
In this paper, we study a big bounce universe typified by a non-singular big bounce, as opposed to a singular big bang. This cosmological model can describe radiation dominated early universe and matter dominated late universe in FRW model. The connections between thermodynamics and gravity are observed here. In the early stage of both cold and hot universes, we find there is only one geometry containing a 4D de Sitter universe with a general state parameter. We also find the form of the apparent horizon in the early universe strongly depends on the extra dimension, which suggests that the inf…
Cosmological bounces occur in many gravity theories. We define singularity scattering maps relating large scale geometries before and after the bounce (assuming no BKL oscillations) and encoding microscopic details of the theory. By classifying all suitably local maps we uncover three universal laws: scaling of Kasner exponents, canonical transformation of matter, directional metric scaling. These are indeed obeyed by Bianchi I bounces in string theory, loop quantum cosmology and modified matter models; our classification then determines how inhomogeneities and anisotropies traverse bounces, a…
We propose a gravitational model with a Brans-Dicke-type scalar field having, in the would-be action, a "wrong-sign" kinetic term and a quartic interaction term. In a cosmological context, we obtain, depending on the boundary conditions, either the Friedmann solution or a kink-bounce solution. The expanding-universe Friedmann solution has a big bang curvature singularity, whereas the kink-bounce solution has a nonsingular bouncing behavior of the cosmic scale factor. The bounce occurs precisely at the moment when the scalar field of the kink-type configuration goes through zero, making for a v…
We describe string frame bouncing universe scenarios involving the creation and annihilation of a non-BPS D9-brane in type IIA superstring theory. We find several classes of solutions, in which the bounce is driven by the tachyon dynamics of the non-BPS brane. The metric and the dilaton are consistently described in terms of the lowest order effective action. The bounce solutions interpolate between contracting and expanding pre-big bang (or post-big bang) solutions. The singular behavior of our bounce solutions is the same as that of the pre-big bang (or post-big bang) solution. Upon adding a…
The evolution of the rotational inhomogeneities is investigated in the specific framework of four-dimensional pre-big bang models. While minimal (dilaton-driven) scenarios do not lead to rotational fluctuations, in the case of non-minimal (string-driven) models, fluid sources are present in the pre-big bang phase. The rotational modes of the geometry, coupled to the divergenceless part of the velocity field, can then be amplified depending upon the value of the barotropic index of the perfect fluids. In the light of a possible production of rotational inhomogeneities, solutions describing the …
We present a rich class of exact solutions which contains radiation-dominated and matter-dominated models for the early and late universe. They include a variable cosmological ``constant'' which is derived from a higher dimension and manifests itself in spacetime as an energy density for the vacuum. This is in agreement with observational data and is compatible with extensions of general relativity to string and membrane theory. Our solutions are also typified by a non-singular ``big bounce'' (as opposed to a singular big bang), where matter is created as in inflationary cosmology.
One of the most remarkable phenomena in Loop Quantum Cosmology is that, at least for homogeneous cosmological models, the Big Bang is replaced with a Big Bounce that connects our universe with a previous branch without passing through a cosmological singularity. The goal of this work is to study the existence of singularities in Loop Quantum Cosmology including inhomogeneities and check whether the behavior obtained in the purely homogeneous setting continues to be valid. With this aim, we focus our attention on the three-torus Gowdy cosmologies with linearly polarized gravitational waves and …
We generalize previous work on inhomogeneous pre-big bang cosmology by including the effect of non-trivial moduli and antisymmetric-tensor/axion fields. The general quasi-homogeneous asymptotic solution---as one approaches the big bang singularity from perturbative initial data---is given and its range of validity is discussed, allowing us to give a general quantitative estimate of the amount of inflation obtained during the perturbative pre-big bang era. The question of determining early-time ``attractors'' for generic pre-big bang cosmologies is also addressed, and a motivated conjecture is …
Recent observations of Type Ia supernovae provide evidence for the acceleration of our universe, which leads to the possibility that the universe is entering an inflationary epoch. We simulate it under a ``big bounce'' model, which contains a time variable cosmological ``constant'' that is derived from a higher dimension and manifests itself in 4D spacetime as dark energy. By properly choosing the two arbitrary functions contained in the model, we obtain a simple exact solution in which the evolution of the universe is divided into several stages. Before the big bounce, the universe contracts …
This short review is addressed to cosmologists. General relativity predicts that space-time comes to an end and physics comes to a halt at the big-bang. Recent developments in loop quantum cosmology have shown that these predictions cannot be trusted. Quantum geometry effects can resolve singularities, thereby opening new vistas. Examples are: The big bang is replaced by a quantum bounce; the `horizon problem' disappears; immediately after the big bounce, there is a super-inflationary phase with its own phenomenological ramifications; and, in presence of a standard inflaton potential, initial …
We explore the possibility of an Ekpyrotic contraction phase harbouring a mechanism for Baryogenesis. A Chern-Simons coupling between the fast-rolling Ekpyrotic scalar and the Standard Model Hypercharge gauge field enables the generation of a non-zero helicity during the contraction phase. The baryon number subsequently produced at the Electroweak Phase Transition is consistent with observation for a range of couplings and bounce scales. Simultaneously, the gauge field production during the contraction provides the seeds for galactic magnetic fields and sources gravitational waves, which may p…
We study a nonsingular bounce inflation model, which can drive the early universe from a contracting phase, bounce into an ordinary inflationary phase, followed by the reheating process. Besides the bounce that avoided the Big-Bang singularity which appears in the standard cosmological scenario, we make use of the Horndesky theory and design the kinetic and potential forms of the lagrangian, so that neither of the two big problems in bouncing cosmology, namely the ghost and the anisotropy problems, will appear. The cosmological perturbations can be generated either in the contracting phase or …
We investigate the minimal conditions under which the creation of our universe might arise due to a "bounce" from a previous collapse, rather than an explosion from a big-bang singularity. Such a bounce is sometimes referred to as a Tolman wormhole. We subject the bounce to a general model-independent analysis along the lines of that applied to the Morris-Thorne traversable wormholes, and show that there is always an open temporal region surrounding the bounce over which the strong energy condition (SEC) must be violated. On the other hand, all the other energy conditions can easily be satisfi…
We introduce an extension of the standard inflationary paradigm on which the big bang singularity is replaced by an anisotropic bounce. Unlike in the big bang model, cosmological perturbations find an adiabatic regime in the past. We show that this scenario accounts for the observed quadrupolar modulation in the temperature anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and we make predictions for the remaining angular correlation functions E-E, B-B and T-E, together with non-zero temperature-polarization correlations T-B and E-B, that can be used to test our ideas. We base our calcula…
We analyse the classical and quantum dynamics of a Bianchi I model in the presence of a small negative cosmological constant characterizing its evolution in term of the dust-time dualism. We demonstrate that in a canonical metric approach, the cosmological singularity is removed in correspondence to a positive defined value of the dust energy density. Furthermore, the quantum Big-Bounce is connected to the Universe turning point via a well-defined semiclassical limit. Then we can reliably infer that the proposed scenario is compatible with a cyclical Universe picture. We also show how, when th…
In this paper we study the flat (k=0) cosmological FRW model with holonomy corrections of Loop Quantum Gravity. The considered universe contains a massless scalar field and the cosmological constant Lambda. We find analytical solutions for this model in different configurations and investigate its dynamical behaviour in the whole phase space. We show the explicit influence of Lambda on the qualitative and quantitative character of solutions. Even in the case of positive Lambda the oscillating solutions without the initial and final singularity appear as a generic case for some quantisation sch…
We investigate the classical and quantum behavior of a Bianchi I model in the presence of a stiff matter contribution when the Vilenkin interpretation of the wave function of the Universe is taken into account. We study its evolution in the so-called polymer representation of quantum mechanics, in order to characterize the modifications that a discrete nature in the isotropic variable of the Universe induces on the morphology of the cosmological singularity. We demonstrate that in such a model the Big-Bang singularity is removed at a semiclassical level in favor of a Big-Bounce when a lattice …
The Immirzi parameter is promoted to be a scalar field and the Hamiltonian analysis of the corresponding dynamical system is performed in the presence of gravity. We identified some SU(2) connections, generalizing Ashtekar-Barbero variables, and we rewrite the constraints in terms of them, setting the classical formulation suitable for loop quantization. Then, we consider the reduced system obtained when restricting to a flat isotropic cosmological model. By mimicking loop quantization via an effective semiclassical treatment, we outline how quantum effects are able to tame the initial singula…
