DeWitt wave functions for de Sitter JT gravity

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Buchmuller, Wilfried, Hebecker, Arthur, Westphal, Alexander
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Buchmuller, Wilfried
Hebecker, Arthur
Westphal, Alexander
author_facet Buchmuller, Wilfried
Hebecker, Arthur
Westphal, Alexander
contents Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity in two-dimensional de Sitter space is an intriguing model for cosmological "wave functions of the universe". Its minisuperspace version already contains all physical information. The size of compact slices is parametrized by a scale factor $h > 0$. The dilaton $ϕ$ is chosen to have positive values, $ϕ> 0$, and interpreted as size of an additional compact slice in a higher-dimensional theory. At the boundaries $h=0$, $ϕ=0$, where the volume of the universe vanishes, the curvature is generically singular. According to a conjecture by DeWitt, solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt (WDW) equation should vanish at singular loci. Recently, the behaviour of JT wave functions at large field values $h$, $ϕ$ has been obtained by means of a path integral over Schwarzian degrees of freedom of a boundary curve. We systematically analyze solutions of the WDW equation with Schwarzian asymptotic behaviour. We find real analytic solutions that vanish on the entire boundary, in agreement with DeWitt's conjecture. Projection to expanding and contracting branches may lead to singularities, which can however be avoided by an appropriate superposition of solutions. Our analysis also illustrates the limitations of semiclassical wave functions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_09211
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle DeWitt wave functions for de Sitter JT gravity
Buchmuller, Wilfried
Hebecker, Arthur
Westphal, Alexander
High Energy Physics - Theory
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity in two-dimensional de Sitter space is an intriguing model for cosmological "wave functions of the universe". Its minisuperspace version already contains all physical information. The size of compact slices is parametrized by a scale factor $h > 0$. The dilaton $ϕ$ is chosen to have positive values, $ϕ> 0$, and interpreted as size of an additional compact slice in a higher-dimensional theory. At the boundaries $h=0$, $ϕ=0$, where the volume of the universe vanishes, the curvature is generically singular. According to a conjecture by DeWitt, solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt (WDW) equation should vanish at singular loci. Recently, the behaviour of JT wave functions at large field values $h$, $ϕ$ has been obtained by means of a path integral over Schwarzian degrees of freedom of a boundary curve. We systematically analyze solutions of the WDW equation with Schwarzian asymptotic behaviour. We find real analytic solutions that vanish on the entire boundary, in agreement with DeWitt's conjecture. Projection to expanding and contracting branches may lead to singularities, which can however be avoided by an appropriate superposition of solutions. Our analysis also illustrates the limitations of semiclassical wave functions.
title DeWitt wave functions for de Sitter JT gravity
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.09211