Beyond semiclassical time: dynamics in quantum cosmology
arXiv:2302.07903 · doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2533/1/012029
Abstract
We review two approaches to the definition of the Hilbert space and evolution in mechanical theories with local time-reparametrization invariance, which are often used as toy models of quantum gravity. The first approach is based on the definition of invariant relational observables, whereas the second formalism consists of a perturbative construction of the Hilbert space and a weak-coupling expansion of the Hamiltonian constraint, which is frequently performed as part of the Born-Oppenheimer treatment in quantum cosmology. We discuss in which sense both approaches exhibit an inner product that is gauge-fixed via an operator version of the usual Faddeev-Popov procedure, and, in the second approach, how the unitarity of the effective Schrödinger evolution is established perturbatively. We note that a conditional probability interpretation of the physical states is possible, so that both formalisms are examples of quantum mechanics with a relational dynamics.
Contribution to appear in the proceedings of the conference DICE2022, September 19-23, 2022 (Castiglioncello, Tuscany), Journ. Phys.: Conf. Series