paper

An introduction to quantum cosmology

arXiv:gr-qc/0101003

Abstract

This is an introductory set of lecture notes on quantum cosmology, given in 1995 to an audience with interests ranging from astronomy to particle physics. Topics covered: 1. Introduction: 1.1 Quantum cosmology and quantum gravity; 1.2 A brief history of quantum cosmology. 2. Hamiltonian formulation of general relativity: 2.1 The 3+1 decomposition; 2.2 The action. 3. Quantisation: 3.1 Superspace; 3.2 Canonical quantisation; 3.3 Path integral quantisation; 3.4 Minisuperspace; 3.5 The WKB approximation; 3.6 Probability measures; 3.7 Minisuperspace for the Friedmann universe with massive scalar field. 4. Boundary Conditions: 4.1 The no-boundary proposal; 4.2 The tunneling proposal. 5. The predictions of quantum cosmology: 5.1 The period of inflation; 5.2 The origin of density perturbations; 5.3 The arrow of time.

60 pages, harvmac, 11 figures, epsf. These summer school lecture notes have been available for 5 years; but are being placed on the archive to make them more easily accessible. Published in "Cosmology: the Physics of the Universe", eds B. Robson, N. Visvanathan and W.S. Woolcock (World Scientific, Singapore, 1996) pp 473-531; v2 reference added, typo fixed

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