Covariant effective action for loop quantum cosmology a la Palatini

Journal Article · Thu Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2009 · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2009/01/030· OSTI ID:22156868

Olmo, Gonzalo J. ^[1]; Singh, Parampreet ^[2]

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1. Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, CSIC, Serrano 121, 28006 Madrid (Spain)
2. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5 (Canada)

In loop quantum cosmology, non-perturbative quantum gravity effects lead to the resolution of the big bang singularity by a quantum bounce without introducing any new degrees of freedom. Though fundamentally discrete, the theory admits a continuum description in terms of an effective Hamiltonian. Here we provide an algorithm to obtain the corresponding effective action, establishing in this way the covariance of the theory for the first time. This result provides new insights on the continuum properties of the discrete structure of quantum geometry and opens new avenues to extract physical predictions such as those related to gauge invariant cosmological perturbations.

• OSTI ID: 22156868
• Journal Information: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2009, Issue 01; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ACTION INTEGRAL
ALGORITHMS
COSMOLOGY
DEGREES OF FREEDOM
DISTURBANCES
GAUGE INVARIANCE
GEOMETRY
HAMILTONIANS
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
QUANTUM GRAVITY
RESOLUTION
SINGULARITY