Euclidean Holography for Cosmology
Description: Forthcoming precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background fluctuations and the cosmic expansion history call for the further development of quantum cosmology to describe the earliest stages of the universe. Hartle and Hawking’s seminal ‘no-boundary’ work yields an appealing proposal for the quantum state of the universe but remains, in practice, restricted to semiclassical considerations. With this project, I aim to develop quantum cosmology beyond the semiclassical approximation, building on Hertog and Hartle’s novel holographic formulation of the no-boundary state. First, I will exploit the close connection with Euclidean AdS/CFT to evaluate quantum corrections to the wave function in a range of minisuperspace models. Second, I will compute quantum corrections to inflationary two-point functions in these models, in particular in the regime of eternal inflation. Moreover, I will examine the role of complex metrics in this holographic setting in the light of a recent analysis by Witten. Finally, I will put this framework to use to compute quantum corrections to the de Sitter entropy as an inroad towards a better understanding of the deeper quantum nature of reality.
Funder: Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Funding type: fellowship
Funder scheme: FWO fellowships
Start date: 2024-11-01
End date: 2026-10-31
Investigators: Algot Joel Karlsson, Thomas Hertog
Institution: FWO
Funded outputs count: 4
Funder award ID: 1171825N
OpenAlex ID: G8564449895