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arXiv · 2302.07903

Beyond semiclassical time: dynamics in quantum cosmology

Leonardo Chataignier
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Abstract

We review two approaches to the definition of the Hilbert space and evolution in mechanical theories with local time-reparametrization invariance, which are often used as toy models of quantum gravity. The first approach is based on the definition of invariant relational observables, whereas the second formalism consists of a perturbative construction of the Hilbert space and a weak-coupling expansion of the Hamiltonian constraint, which is frequently performed as part of the Born-Oppenheimer treatment in quantum cosmology. We discuss in which sense both approaches exhibit an inner product that is gauge-fixed via an operator version of the usual Faddeev-Popov procedure, and, in the second approach, how the unitarity of the effective Schrödinger evolution is established perturbatively. We note that a conditional probability interpretation of the physical states is possible, so that both formalisms are examples of quantum mechanics with a relational dynamics.

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Leonardo Chataignier. 2023-02-15. Beyond semiclassical time: dynamics in quantum cosmology. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596%2F2533%2F1%2F012029

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