Inhomogeneous Space-time Geometries as an Interacting Quantum System
Open Access
Author:
Chinchilli, Alexander Louis
Area of Honors:
Physics
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Martin Bojowald, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Richard Wallace Robinett, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
quantum gravity cosmology general relativity
Abstract:
General Relativity is the current theory of gravity and it accounts for observational
data that Newtonian gravity cannot explain. There are a few drawbacks to this
otherwise successful theory. The greatest of these shortcomings is that General
Relativity breaks down at high energy densities, like those in the early stages of the universe. It is suspected that Quantum Mechanical effects dominate in this limit, but unfortunately there is not a complete quantum theory of gravity yet. This thesis investigates the behavior of a perturbed space-time from the perspective of Loop Quantum Cosmology, a proposed quantum theory of gravity modified for applications to cosmology.