We consider the generalisation of quantum tunneling transitions in the WKB approximation to the time-independent functional Schrödinger and Wheeler-DeWitt equations. Following a Lorentzian approach, we compute the transition rates among different scalar field vacua and compare with those performed by Coleman and collaborators using the Euclidean approach. For gravity, we develop a general formalism for computing transition rates in Wheeler's superspace. This is then applied to computing decays in flat space and then to transitions in the presence of gravity. In the latter case we point out the complexities arising from having non-positive definite kinetic terms illustrating them in the simplified context of mini-superspace. This corresponds to a generalisation of the well-known `tunneling from nothing' scenarios. While we can obtain the leading term for the transitions obtained by Euclidean methods we also point out some differences and ambiguities. We show that there is no obstruction to keeping the spherically ($SO(4)$) symmetric closed slicing for the new vacuum after a de Sitter to de Sitter transition. We argue that this is the natural Lorentzian realisation of the Coleman-De Luccia instanton and that a closed universe is also obtained if the mini-superspace assumption is relaxed. This is contrary to the open universe predicted by Coleman-De Luccia which relies on an analytic continuation performed after bubble nucleation. Our findings may have important cosmological implications related to the origin of inflation and to the string landscape. In particular, they question the widespread belief that evidence for a closed universe would rule out the string landscape.
We present evidence that recent numerical results from the reduced classical equations of the Lorentzian IIB matrix model can be interpreted as corresponding to the emergence of an expanding universe. In addition, we propose an effective metric to describe the emerging (3+1)-dimensional spacetime. This metric gives, at all times, finite values for the Ricci and Kretschmann curvature scalars. With these results, we are able to give a heuristic discussion of the origin of the Universe in the context of the IIB matrix model.
The vacuum transition probabilities for anisotropic universes in the presence of a scalar field potential in the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation are studied. We follow the work by Cespedes et al [Phys. Rev. D 104, 026013 (2021)], which discuss these transitions in the isotropic context using the Wheeler-DeWitt equation, the Lorentzian Hamiltonian approach and the thin wall limit. First, we propose a general procedure to adapt their formalism to compute the decay rates for any superspace model. Then we apply it to compute the transition probabilities of an Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-W…
Recently we have shown by Monte Carlo simulation that expanding (3+1)-dimensional universe appears dynamically from a Lorentzian matrix model for type IIB superstring theory in (9+1)-dimensions. The mechanism for the spontaneous breaking of rotational symmetry relies crucially on the noncommutative nature of the space. Here we study the classical equations of motion as a complementary approach. In particular, we find a unique class of SO(3) symmetric solutions, which exhibits the time-dependence compatible with the expanding universe. The space-space noncommutativity is exactly zero, whereas t…
We study the Lorentzian version of the type IIB matrix model as a nonperturbative formulation of superstring theory in (9+1)-dimensions. Monte Carlo results show that not only space but also time emerges dynamically in this model. Furthermore, the real-time dynamics extracted from the matrices turns out to be remarkable: 3 out of 9 spatial directions start to expand at some critical time. This can be interpreted as the birth of our Universe.
The duality between the original Kaluza's theory and Klein's subsequent modification is duality between slicing and threading decomposition of the five-dimensional spacetime. The field equations of the original Kaluza's theory lead to the interpretation of the four-dimensional Lorentzian Kerr and Taub--NUT solutions as resulting from static electric and magnetic charges and dipoles in the presence of ghost matter and constant dilaton, which models Newton's constant.
We propose a new method for studying the early universe in the Lorentzian version of the IIB matrix model, which is considered to be a nonperturbative formulation of superstring theory. This method is based on the idea of renormalization group, and it enables us to study the time-evolution of the universe for much longer time than in the previous work, which showed that the SO(9) rotational symmetry is spontaneously broken down to SO(3) after a "critical time". We demonstrate how this method works in a simplified model, which is expected to capture the behaviors of the original model when the …
The gravitational path-integral of Gauss-Bonnet gravity is investigated and the transition from one spacelike boundary configuration to another is analyzed. Of particular interest is the case of Neumann and Robin boundary conditions which is known to lead to a stable Universe in Einstein-Hilbert gravity in four spacetime dimensions. After setting up the variational problem and computing the necessary boundary terms, the transition amplitude is computed \emph{exactly} in the mini-superspace approximation. The $\hbar\to0$ limit brings out the dominant pieces in the path-integral which is traced …
The wave function of the universe is usually taken to be a functional of the three-metric on a spacelike section, Sigma, which is measured. It is sometimes better, however, to work in the conjugate representation, where the wave function depends on a quantity related to the second fundamental form of Sigma. This makes it possible to ensure that Sigma is part of a Lorentzian universe by requiring that the argument of the wave function be purely imaginary. We demonstrate the advantages of this formalism first in the well-known examples of the nucleation of a de Sitter or a Nariai universe. We th…
Recent studies on the Lorentzian version of the type IIB matrix model show that (3+1)D expanding universe emerges dynamically from (9+1)D space-time predicted by superstring theory. Here we study a bosonic matrix model obtained by omitting the fermionic matrices. With the adopted simplification and the usage of a large-scale parallel computer, we are able to perform Monte Carlo calculations with matrix size up to $N=512$, which is twenty times larger than that used previously for the studies of the original model. When the matrix size is larger than some critical value $N_{\rm c}\simeq 110$, w…
We reconsider the matrix model formulation of type IIB superstring theory in (9+1)-dimensional space-time. Unlike the previous proposal in which the Wick rotation was used to make the model well-defined, we regularize the Lorentzian model by introducing infrared cutoffs in both the spatial and temporal directions. Monte Carlo studies reveal that the two cutoffs can be removed in the large-N limit and that the theory thus obtained has no parameters other than one scale parameter. Moreover, we find that three out of nine spatial directions start to expand at some "critical time", after which the…
The type IIB matrix model is a conjectured nonperturbative formulation of superstring theory. Recent studies on the Lorentzian version of the model have shown that only three out of nine spatial directions start to expand after some critical time. On the other hand, due to the unbounded action of the Lorentzian model, one has to introduce infrared (IR) cutoffs in order to make the partition function finite. In this work we investigate whether the effects of the IR cutoffs disappear in the infinite volume limit. For that purpose, we study a simplified model with large matrix size up to $N=256$ …
The vacuum transition probabilities for a Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker universe with positive curvature in Hořava-Lifshitz gravity in the presence of a scalar field potential in the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation are studied. We use a general procedure to compute such transition probabilities using a Hamiltonian approach to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation presented in a previous work. We consider two situations of scalar fields, one in which the scalar field depends on all the spacetime variables and other in which the scalar field depends only on the time variable. In both cases a…
We propose a method to construct quantum theory of matter fields in a topology changing universe. Analytic continuation of the semiclassical gravity of a Lorentzian geometry leads to a non-unitary Schrödinger equation in a Euclidean region of spacetime, which does not have a direct interpretation of quantum theory of the Minkowski spacetime. In this Euclidean region we quantize the Euclidean geometry, derive the time-dependent Schrödinger equation and find the quantum states using the Liouville-Neumann method. The Wick rotation of these quantum states provides the correct Hilbert space of matt…
The type IIB matrix model is a conjectured nonperturbative formulation of superstring theory. Recently the Lorentzian version of the model has been studied by Monte Carlo simulation, and it has been shown that only three out of nine spatial directions start to expand after a critical time. We extend this work by investigating the expanding behavior for much longer time. We find that the 3d space expands exponentially for some period of time, which may be interpreted as inflation. We also simulate a simplified model, which is expected to capture some qualitative features of the original model a…
The classification of all possible holonomy algebras of Einstein and vacuum Einstein Lorentzian manifolds is obtained. It is shown that each such algebra appears as the holonomy algebra of an Einstein (resp., vacuum Einstein) Lorentzian manifold, the direct constructions are given. Also the holonomy algebras of totally Ricci-isotropic Lorentzian manifolds are classified. The classification of the holonomy algebras of Lorentzian manifolds is reviewed and a complete description of the spaces of curvature tensors for these holonomies is given.
In this paper we study the Lorentzian path-integral of Gauss-Bonnet gravity in the mini-superspace approximation in four spacetime dimensions and investigate the transition amplitude from one configuration to another. Past studies motivate us on imposing Neumann boundary conditions on initial boundary as they lead to stable behaviour of fluctuations. The transition amplitude is computed exactly while incorporating the non-trivial contribution coming from the Gauss-Bonnet sector of gravity. A saddle-point analysis involving usage of Picard-Lefschetz methods allow us to gain further insight of t…
We employ the methods of discrete (Lorentzian) Regge calculus for analysing Lorentzian quantum cosmology models with a special focus on discrete analogues of the no-boundary proposal for the early universe. We use a simple 4-polytope, a subdivided 4-polytope and shells of discrete 3-spheres as triangulations to model a closed universe with cosmological constant, and examine the semiclassical path integral for these different choices. We find that the shells give good agreement with continuum results for small values of the scale factor and in particular for finer discretisations of the boundar…
We propose a solution of the naturalness problem in the context of the multiverse wavefunction without the anthropic argument. If we include microscopic wormhole configurations in the path integral, the wave function becomes a superposition of universes with various values of the coupling constants such as the cosmological constant, the parameters in the Higgs potential, and so on. We analyze the quantum state of the multiverse, and evaluate the density matrix of one universe. We show that the coupling constants induced by the wormholes are fixed in such a way that the density matrix is maximi…
Three-dimensional Lorentzian quantum gravity, expressed as the continuum limit of a nonperturbative sum over spacetimes, is tantalizingly close to being amenable to analytical methods, and some of its properties have been described in terms of effective matrix and other models. To gain a more detailed understanding of three-dimensional quantum gravity, we perform a numerical investigation of the nature of spatial hypersurfaces in three-dimensional Causal Dynamical Triangulations (CDT). We measure and analyze several quantum observables, the entropy exponent, the local and global Hausdorff dime…
The vacuum transition probabilities between to minima of a scalar field potential in the presence of gravity are studied using the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation. First we propose a method to compute these transition probabilities by solving the Wheeler-DeWitt equation in a semi-classical approach for any model of superspace that contains terms of squared as well as linear momenta in the Hamiltonian constraint generalizing in this way previous results. Then we apply this method to compute the transition probabilities for a Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker metric with positive and n…
The Einstein static universe has played a central role in a number of emergent scenarios recently put forward to deal with the singular origin of the standard cosmological model. Here we study the existence and stability of the Einstein static solution in presence of vacuum energy corresponding to conformally-invariant fields. We show that the presence of vacuum energy stabilizes this solution by changing it to a centre equilibrium point, which is cyclically stable. This allows non-singular emergent cosmological models to be constructed in which initially the universe oscillates indefinitely a…
We point out that the (pseudo-)conformal Universe scenario may be realized as decay of conformally invariant, metastable vacuum, which proceeds via spontaneous nucleation and subsequent growth of a bubble of a putative new phase. We study perturbations about the bubble and show that their leading late-time properties coincide with those inherent in the original models with homogeneously rolling backgrounds. In particular, the perturbations of a spectator dimension-zero field have flat power spectrum.
We study the problem of the cosmological constant in the context of the multiverse in Lorentzian spacetime, and show that the cosmological constant will vanish in the future. This sort of argument was started from Coleman in 1989, and he argued that the Euclidean wormholes make the multiverse partition a superposition of various values of the cosmological constant $Λ$, which has a sharp peak at $Λ=0$. However, the implication of the Euclidean analysis to our Lorentzian spacetime is unclear. With this motivation, we analyze the quantum state of the multiverse in Lorentzian spacetime by the WKB …
In flat spacetime, two inequivalent vacuum states which arise rather naturally are the Rindler vacuum (R) and the Minkowski vacuum (M). We disuss several aspects of the Rindler vacuum, concentrating on the propagator and Schwinger (heat) kernel defined using R, both in the Lorentzian and Euclidean sectors. We start by exploring an intriguing result due to Candelas and Raine , viz., that $G_{R}$, the Feynman propagator corresponding to R, can be expressed as a curious integral transform of $G_{M}$, the Feynman propagator in M. We show that, this relation actually follows from the well known res…
We consider a non-singular origin for the Universe starting from an Einstein static Universe, the so called "emergent universe" scenario, in the framework of a theory which uses two volume elements $\sqrt{-{g}}d^{4}x$ and $Φd^{4}x$, where $Φ$ is a metric independent density, used as an additional measure of integration. Also curvature, curvature square terms and for scale invariance a dilaton field $ϕ$ are considered in the action. The first order formalism is applied. The integration of the equations of motion associated with the new measure gives rise to the spontaneous symmetry breaking (S.…
Describing the presently observable Universe as a self-sustained condensate of gravitons of size $H_0^{-1}$, with large occupation number $N$, we argue that the most probable value for the quantum vacuum energy is of the order of the critical energy density, as observed.
The general plane wave solutions of the Proca field in conformal charts of the de Sitter expanding universe are derived for arbitrary polarizations showing how the frequencies can be separated in rest frames, defining thus the rest frame vacuum of this field.
We reconsider the Coleman's mechanism that solves the Cosmological Constant Problem by the baby universes. We use the Lorentzian path integral and allow each universe has a different effective field theory and a vacuum. By using the probability distribution of coupling constants, it is shown that the cosmological constant of our universe does not necessary become small due to the effects of other universes.
We discuss the coordinate complexification necessary to obtain a spatially homogeneous open universe in the singular instantonic solution recently suggested by Hawking and Turok (hep-th/9802030), concluding that only the time coordinate $σ$ of the spatially inhomogeneous De Sitter-like Lorentzian solution and its scale factor should be rotated in order to continue into a Lorentzian open universe.
We consider an empty (4+1) dimensional Kaluza-Klein universe with a negative cosmological constant and a Robertson-Walker type metric. It is shown that the solutions to Einstein field equations have degenerate metric and exhibit transitioins from a Euclidean to a Lorentzian domain. We then suggest a mechanism, based on signature transition which leads to compactification of the internal space in the Lorentzian region as $a \sim |Λ|^{1/2}$. With the assumption of a very small value for the cosmological constant we find that the size of the universe $R$ and the internal scale factor $a$ would be…
In this work, we investigated the electroweak vacuum instability during or after inflation. In the inflationary Universe, i.e., de Sitter space, the vacuum field fluctuations $\left< {δϕ}^{ 2 } \right>$ enlarge in proportion to the Hubble scale $H^{2}$. Therefore, the large inflationary vacuum fluctuations of the Higgs field $\left< {δϕ}^{ 2 } \right>$ are potentially catastrophic to trigger the vacuum transition to the negative-energy Planck-scale vacuum state and cause an immediate collapse of the Universe. However, the vacuum field fluctuations $\left< {δϕ}^{ 2 } \right>$, i.e., the vacuum …
Dimensional (In)dependence of Lorentzian Quantum Cosmology
RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS), RIKEN（理化学研究所交叉理论数学科学中心（iTHEMS））；Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University（埼玉大学理工学研究科）；Osaka Central Advanced Mathematical Institute (OCAMI), Osaka Metropolitan University（大阪公立大学大阪中央高级数学研究所（OCAMI））；Department of Physics, College of Humanities and Sciences, Nihon University（日本大学人文科学部物理学系）；Center for Gravitational Physics and Quantum Information, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University（京都大学汤川理论物理研究所引力物理与量子信息研究中心）；Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe, Nagoya University（名古屋大学小林-益川粒子宇宙起源研究所）
This is a review of recent results regarding the application of Connes' noncommutative geometry to the Standard Model, and beyond. By twisting (in the sense of Connes-Moscovici) the spectral triple of the Standard Model, one does not only get an extra scalar field which stabilises the electroweak vacuum, but also an unexpected 1-form field. By computing the fermionic action, we show how this field induces a transition from the Euclidean to the Lorentzian signature. Hints on a twisted version of the spectral action are also briefly mentioned.
I review the excellent phenomenological status of a class of dynamical vacuum models in which the vacuum energy density, $ρ_Λ=ρ_Λ(H)$, as a function of the Hubble rate, evolves through its interaction with dark matter and/or through the accompanying running of the gravitational coupling $G$, including the possibility of being self-conserved with a nontrivial effective equation of state. Some of these models have been used to incorporate into a single vacuum structure the rapid stage of inflation, followed by the standard radiation and cold dark matter epochs all the way down until the dark ene…
The decay of the string perturbative vacuum, if triggered by a suitable, duality-breaking dilaton potential, can efficiently proceed via the parametric amplification of the Wheeler-De Witt wave function in superspace, and can appropriately describe the birth of our Universe as a quantum process of pair production from the vacuum.
We propose a very simple reformulation of General Relativity, which completely sequesters from gravity {\it all} of the vacuum energy from a matter sector, including all loop corrections and renders all contributions from phase transitions automatically small. The idea is to make the dimensional parameters in the matter sector functionals of the 4-volume element of the universe. For them to be nonzero, the universe should be finite in spacetime. If this matter is the Standard Model of particle physics, our mechanism prevents any of its vacuum energy, classical or quantum, from sourcing the cur…
In a recent paper (Phys. Rev. D95, 103504 (2017)) it is argued that, due to the fluctuations around its mean value, vacuum energy gravitates differently from what previously assumed. As a consequence, the universe would accelerate with a small Hubble expansion rate, solving the cosmological constant and dark energy problems. We point out here that the results depend on the type of cutoff used to evaluate the vacuum energy. In particular, they are not valid when one uses a covariant cutoff such that the zero point energy density is positive definite.
The vacuum expectation values (VEVs) of the field squared and energy-momentum tensor for a massless scalar field are investigated in the Milne universe with general number of spatial dimensions. The vacuum state depends on the choice of the mode functions in the canonical quantization procedure and we assume that the field is prepared in the conformal vacuum. As the first step an integral representation for the difference of the Wightman functions corresponding to the conformal and Minkowski vacua is derived. The mean field squared and energy-momentum tensor are obtained in the coincidence lim…
Within the third quantisation formalism, we find solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt in terms of two sets of modes that can be identified with the Hartle-Hawking's no boundary condition and with the Vilenkin's tunneling boundary condition, respectively. The two sets of modes are related by a Bogolyubov transformation so the no boundary vacuum state turns out to be equivalent to a thermal distribution of tunnelling positive and negative modes representing, in a relative sense, universes and antiuniverses
In this paper I present a spacetime of two open universes connected by a Lorentzian wormhole. The spacetime has the following features: (1) It can exactly solve the Einstein equations; (2) The weak energy condition is satisfied everywhere; (3) It has a topology of R^2\times T_g (g\ge 2); (4) It has no event horizons.
We construct a black hole whose interior is the false vacuum and whose exterior is the true vacuum of a classical field theory. From the outside the metric is the usual Schwarzschild one, but from the inside the space is de Sitter with a cosmological constant determined by the energy of the false vacuum. The parameters of the field potential may allow for the false vacuum to exist for more than the present age of the universe. A potentially relevant effective field theory within the context of QCD results in a Schwarzschild radius of about 200 km.
We discuss the mechanism by which the field vacuum energy varies as a result of strong self-interaction. We propose a non-perturbative approach to treat strong interactions and discuss the problem in terms of quasi-particles describing the motion of field modes. The resulting vacuum energy is variable and depends on the state of the system. If the interacting scalar field is related to the cosmological field, an acceleration equation with a stable equilibrium point follows in a simple model, predicting the oscillatory behavior of the scale factor and other cosmological effects.
Using a previously introduced model in which the expansion of the universe is driven by a single scalar field subject to gravitational attraction induced by a white hole during the expansion (from a 6D vacuum state), we study the origin of squared inflaton fluctuations spectrum on astrophysical scales.
We review the main scientific pictures of the universe developed from ancient times to Albert Einstein and underline that all of them treated the universe as a stationary system with unchanged physical properties. In contrast to this, 100 years ago Alexander Friedmann predicted that the universe expands starting from the point of infinitely large energy density. We briefly discuss the physical meaning of this prediction and its experimental confirmation consisting of the discovery of redshift in the spectra of remote galaxies and relic radiation. After mentioning the horizon problem in the the…
The Lorentzian spacetime metric is replaced by an area metric which naturally emerges as a generalized geometry in quantum string and gauge theory. Employing the area metric curvature scalar, the gravitational Einstein-Hilbert action is re-interpreted as dynamics for an area metric. Without the need for dark energy or fine-tuning, area metric cosmology explains the observed small acceleration of the late Universe.
A closed vacuum-dominated Friedmann universe is asymptotic to a de Sitter space with a cosmological event horizon for any observer. The holographic principle says the area of the horizon in Planck units determines the number of bits of information about the universe that will ever be available to any observer. The wavefunction describing the probability distribution of mass quanta associated with bits of information on the horizon is the boundary condition for the wavefunction specifying the probability distribution of mass quanta throughout the universe. Local interactions between mass quanta…
We study the dynamics of the quantum scalar field responsible for inflation in different epochs of the evolution of the universe by using a recently introduced nonperturbative formalism from a 5D apparent vacuum.
In this article we use the idea of algorithmic complexity (AC) to study various cosmological scenarios, and as a means of quantizing the gravitational interaction. We look at 5D and 7D cosmological models where the Universe begins as a higher dimensional Planck size spacetime which fluctuates between Euclidean and Lorentzian signatures. These fluctuations are governed by the AC of the two different signatures. At some point a transition to a 4D Lorentzian signature Universe occurs, with the extra dimensions becoming ``frozen'' or non-dynamical. We also apply the idea of algorithmic complexity …
We present a (hopefully) novel calculation of the vacuum energy in expanding FLRW spacetimes based on the renormalization of quantum field theory in non-zero backgrounds. We compute the renormalized effective action up to the $2-$point function and then apply the formalism to the cosmological backgrounds of interest. As an example we calculate for quasi de Sitter spacetimes the leading correction to the vacuum energy given by the tadpole diagram and show that it behaves as $\sim H_0^2 Λ_{\rm pl}$ where $H_0$ is the Hubble constant and $Λ_{\rm pl}$ is the Planck constant. This is of the same or…
