DeWitt boundary condition is consistent in Hořava-Lifshitz quantum gravity

In quantum cosmology the DeWitt boundary condition is a proposal to set the wave function of the universe to vanish at the classical big-bang singularity. In this Letter, we show that in many gravitational theories including general relativity, the DeWitt wave function does not take a desired form o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hiroki Matsui, Shinji Mukohyama, Atsushi Naruko
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022-10-01
Series:Physics Letters B
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269322004749
Description
Summary:In quantum cosmology the DeWitt boundary condition is a proposal to set the wave function of the universe to vanish at the classical big-bang singularity. In this Letter, we show that in many gravitational theories including general relativity, the DeWitt wave function does not take a desired form once tensor perturbations around a homogeneous and isotropic closed universe are taken into account: anisotropies and inhomogeneities due to the perturbations are not suppressed near the classical singularity. We then show that Hořava-Lifshitz gravity provides a satisfactory DeWitt wave function. In particular, in the limit of z=3 anisotropic scaling, we find an exact analytic expression for the DeWitt wave function of the universe with scale-invariant perturbations. In general cases with relevant deformations, we show that the DeWitt wave function can be systematically expanded around the classical big-bang singularity with perturbations under control.
ISSN:0370-2693