2012/05/16 by James B. Hartle, S. W. Hawking, Hartle, James B. +3
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th) #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #gr-qc #hep-ph #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1205.3807
28 pages. v2: added reference, minor corrections. v3: added clarifications in discussion of classicality
openalex publication_date 2012/05/16 · arxiv created 2012/07/31 · arxiv updated 2012/08/01 · openalex created_date 2022/10/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Wave functions specifying a quantum state of the universe must satisfy the constraints of general relativity, in particular the Wheeler-DeWitt equation (WDWE). We show for a wide class of models with non-zero cosmological constant that solutions of the WDWE exhibit a universal semiclassical asymptotic structure for large spatial volumes. A consequence of this asymptotic structure is that a wave function in a gravitational theory with a negative cosmological constant can predict an ensemble of asymptotically classical histories which expand with a positive effective cosmological constant. This raises the possibility that even fundamental theories with a negative cosmological constant can be consistent with our low-energy observations of a classical, accelerating universe. We illustrate this general framework with the specific example of the no-boundary wave function in its holographic form. The implications of these results for model building in string cosmology are discussed.