Selection Rules in Minisuperspace Quantum Cosmology

TL;DR

This paper explores how Noether symmetries serve as selection rules in minisuperspace quantum cosmology, linking classical behavior emergence to symmetry presence in extended gravity theories.

Contribution

It demonstrates that Noether symmetries can be used as criteria to recover classical cosmic evolution in extended gravity models within minisuperspace.

Findings

Noether symmetries correlate with classical regimes in quantum cosmology.

The Hartle criterion is connected to Noether symmetries in extended theories.

Examples include exact solutions in nonminimally coupled and higher-order gravity theories.

Abstract

The existence of a Noether symmetry for a given minisuperspace cosmological model is a sort of selection rule to recover classical behaviours in cosmic evolution since oscillatory regimes for the wave function of the universe come out. The so called Hartle criterion to select correlated regions in the configuration space of dynamical variables can be directly connected to the presence of a Noether symmetry and we show that such a statement works for generic extended theories of gravity in the framework of minisuperspace approximation. Examples and exact cosmological solutions are given for nonminimally coupled and higher--order theories.