Unitary evolution in Gowdy cosmology

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that a nonperturbative canonical quantization of polarized Gowdy T**3 spacetimes can preserve unitarity, challenging previous beliefs about non-unitary quantum evolution in cosmological models.

Contribution

It introduces a full nonperturbative canonical quantization approach that maintains unitarity in Gowdy T**3 cosmologies, countering prior results suggesting non-unitarity.

Findings

Achieves a unitary quantum evolution in Gowdy T**3 models.

Provides a new framework for nonperturbative quantum cosmology.

Discusses implications for the principle of unitarity in cosmology.

Abstract

Recent results on the non-unitary character of quantum time evolution in the family of Gowdy T**3 spacetimes bring the question of whether one should renounce in cosmology to the most sacred principle of unitary evolution. In this work we show that the answer is in the negative. We put forward a full nonperturbative canonical quantization of the polarized Gowdy T**3 model that implements the dynamics while preserving unitarity. We discuss possible implications of this result.