Lorentzian quantum cosmology goes simplicial

Abstract

We employ the methods of discrete (Lorentzian) Regge calculus for analysing Lorentzian quantum cosmology models with a special focus on discrete analogues of the no-boundary proposal for the early universe. We use a simple four-polytope, a subdivided four-polytope and shells of discrete three-spheres as triangulations to model a closed universe with cosmological constant, and examine the semiclassical path integral for these different choices. We find that the shells give good agreement with continuum results for small values of the scale factor and in particular for finer discretisations of the boundary three-sphere, while the simple and subdivided four-polytopes can only be compared with the continuum in certain regimes, and in particular are not able to capture a transition from Euclidean geometry with small scale factor to a large Lorentzian one. Finally, we consider a closed universe filled with dust particles and discretised by shells of three-spheres. This model can approximate the continuum case quite well. Our results embed the no-boundary proposal in a discrete setting where it is possibly more naturally defined, and prepare for its discussion within the realm of spin foams.