Cosmological constant, semiclassical gravity, and foundations of quantum mechanics

TL;DR

This paper proposes a Bohmian deterministic approach to semiclassical gravity, resolving the old cosmological constant problem and issues with wave-function collapse, offering a more consistent foundation linking quantum mechanics and gravity.

Contribution

It introduces a Bohmian reformulation of semiclassical gravity that addresses longstanding inconsistencies and problems in the field.

Findings

Resolves the old cosmological constant problem.

Avoids the wave-function collapse issue in semiclassical gravity.

Discusses implications for particle creation in gravitational fields.

Abstract

The old cosmological-constant (CC) problem indicates an inconsistency of the usual formulation of semiclassical gravity. The usual formulation of semiclassical gravity also seems to be inconsistent with the conventional interpretation of quantum mechanics based on the discontinuous wave-function collapse. By reformulating semiclassical gravity in terms of Bohmian deterministic particle trajectories, the resulting semiclassical theory avoids both the old CC problem and the discontinuous collapse problem of the usual semiclassical theory. The relevance to the new CC problem and to particle creation by classical gravitational fields is also discussed.