1996/08/28 by V. A. Rubakov, Rubakov, V. A., O. Yu. Shvedov +1
Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Relativity and Gravitational Theory #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.gr-qc/9608065
9 pages in LaTeX, 3 figures in PostScript, to appear in Proceedings of the 9th International Seminar "QUARKS-96"
arxiv created 1996/08/28 · openalex publication_date 1996/08/28 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The problem of topology change transitions in quantum gravity is discussed. We argue that the contribution of the Giddings-Strominger wormhole to the Euclidean path integral is pure imaginary. This is checked by two techniques: by the functional integral approach and by the analysis of the Wheeler-De Witt equation. We present also a simple quantum mechanical model which shares many features of the system consisting of parent and baby universes. In this simple model, we show that quantum coherence is completely lost and obtain the equation for the effective density matrix of the ''parent universe''.