Semiclassical cosmology with a scalar field

Journal Article · Fri May 15 00:00:00 EDT 1987 · Phys. Rev. D; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.35.2993· OSTI ID:6063024

Singh, T P; Padmanabhan, T

A self-consistent scheme for studying the semiclassical limit of a quantized scalar field in a classical Robertson-Walker metric is developed. The scalar field is chosen to be in a Gaussian state. The classical and semiclassical geometries are contrasted; and it is shown that nontrivial solutions exist for the space-time geometry which are driven by the vacuum fluctuations of the scalar field. We also discuss the stability of de Sitter space to quantum fluctuations, if the cosmological constant is larger than a critical value.

• Research Organization: Theoretical Astrophysics Group, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Bombay 400005, India
• OSTI ID: 6063024
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. D; (United States), Vol. 35:10
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COSMOLOGY
SCALAR FIELDS
SEMICLASSICAL APPROXIMATION
CLASSICAL MECHANICS
EIGENSTATES
EINSTEIN FIELD EQUATIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
HARMONIC OSCILLATOR MODELS
METRICS
QUANTIZATION
SPACE-TIME
VACUUM STATES
EQUATIONS
FIELD EQUATIONS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICS
640106* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Cosmology