A Wheeler–DeWitt Quantum Approach to the Branch-Cut Gravitation with Ordering Parameters

Abstract

In this contribution to the Festschrift for Prof. Remo Ruffini, we investigate a formulation of quantum gravity using the Hořava–Lifshitz theory of gravity, which is General Relativity augmented by counter-terms to render the theory regularized. We are then led to the Wheeler–DeWitt (WDW) equation combined with the classical concepts of the branch-cut gravitation, which contemplates as a new scenario for the origin of the Universe, a smooth transition region between the contraction and expansion phases. Through the introduction of an energy-dependent effective potential, which describes the space-time curvature associated with the embedding geometry and its coupling with the cosmological constant and matter fields, solutions of the WDW equation for the wave function of the Universe are obtained. The Lagrangian density is quantized through the standard procedure of raising the Hamiltonian, the helix-like complex scale factor of branched gravitation as well as the corresponding conjugate momentum to the category of quantum operators. Ambiguities in the ordering of the quantum operators are overcome with the introduction of a set of ordering factors α, whose values are restricted, to make contact with similar approaches, to the integers α=[0,1,2], allowing this way a broader class of solutions for the wave function of the Universe. In addition to a branched universe filled with underlying background vacuum energy, primordial matter and radiation, in order to connect with standard model calculations, we additionally supplement this formulation with baryon matter, dark matter and quintessence contributions. Finally, the boundary conditions for the wave function of the Universe are imposed by assuming the Bekenstein criterion. Our results indicate the consistency of a topological quantum leap, or alternatively a quantum tunneling, for the transition region of the early Universe in contrast to the classic branched cosmology view of a smooth transition.

Keywords

• branch-cut cosmology
• Wheeler–DeWitt equation
• quantum gravity