Observational Consequences of Quantum Cosmology

TL;DR

This paper explores the observational implications of an improved quantum cosmology wave function, revealing effects on inflation models, spatial curvature, and tunneling probabilities, with potential for detectable signals in cosmological data.

Contribution

It introduces an improved Hartle-Hawking wave function and analyzes its observational consequences for various inflation models, including chaotic and brane inflation.

Findings

Detectable spatial curvature in chaotic inflation

Negligible tunneling probability for eternal chaotic inflation

Tensor-scalar ratio and spatial curvature are negligible in brane inflation

Abstract

Our universe is born of a tunnelling from nothing in quantum cosmology. Nothing here can be interpreted as a state with zero entropy. As a reliable modification of the Hartle-Hawking wave function of the universe, the improved Hartle-Hawking wave function proposed by Firouzjahi, Sarangi and Tye gives many interesting observational consequences which we explore in this paper. Fruitful observations are obtained for chaotic inflation, including a detectable spatial curvature and a negligible tunnelling probability for eternal chaotic inflation. And we find that the tensor-scalar ratio and the spatial curvature for brane inflation type models should be neglected.