European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields (Aug 2021)

Cosmic voids and filaments from quantum gravity

  • J. Ambjørn,
  • Z. Drogosz,
  • J. Gizbert-Studnicki,
  • A. Görlich,
  • J. Jurkiewicz,
  • D. Németh

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09468-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 81, no. 8
pp. 1 – 5

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Using computer simulations, we study the geometry of a typical quantum universe, i.e., the geometry one might expect before a possible period of inflation. We display it using coordinates defined by means of four classical scalar fields satisfying the Laplace equation with nontrivial boundary conditions. They are a close analogue of the harmonic coordinate condition used in the context of GR (Kuchar and Torre in Phys Rev D 43:419–441, 1991). It is highly nontrivial that these ideas can be applied to understand the structures which appear in very irregular and fluctuating geometries. The field configurations reveal cosmic web structures surprisingly similar to the ones observed in the present-day universe.