2015/06/30 by Xiangdong Zhang · 19 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Differential Geometry Research #Advanced Mathematical Theories and Applications #Big Bounce #Initial singularity #Loop quantum cosmology #Loop quantum gravity #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Quantization (signal processing) #Quantum cosmology #Quantum geometry #Quantum gravity #Spacetime #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-016-4249-8
published in The European Physical Journal C 76(7) (Springer Science+Business Media) · 14 pages. Minor revision and references added, presentation improved
arxiv created 2015/10/06 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex publication_date 2016/07/01 · arxiv updated 2016/10/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Loop quantum cosmology (LQC) is the symmetric sector of loop quantum gravity. In this paper, we generalize the structure of loop quantum cosmology to the theories with arbitrary spacetime dimensions. The isotropic and homogeneous cosmological model in n+1 dimensions is quantized by the loop quantization method. Interestingly, we find that the underlying quantum theories are divided into two qualitatively different sectors according to spacetime dimensions. The effective Hamiltonian and modified dynamical equations of n+1 dimensional LQC are obtained. Moreover, our results indicate that the classical big bang singularity is resolved in arbitrary spacetime dimensions by a quantum bounce. We also briefly discuss the similarities and differences between the n+1 dimensional model and the 3+1 dimensional one. Our model serves as a first example of higher dimensional loop quantum cosmology and offers the possibility to investigate quantum gravity effects in higher dimensional cosmology.