.... problem of time general relativity quantum gravity quantum cosmology refoliation invariance This chapter will provide a short summary of the key steps in our solution to the problem of time in classical mechanics described in the present Volume I. We will then provide a prospectus to the ideas...

...This chapter discusses the wave function of a Godless universe. It analyses the concept of nothingness, the interpretation of quantum cosmology, and Stephen Hawking's quasi-instrumentalist interpretation of quantum mechanics. It comments on the concept of imaginary time in Hawking's quantum...

... James B Hawking Stephen theism Vilenkin Alexander big Bang Cosmology quantum Cosmology plasma Cosmology spacetime Metric Sir John Maddox ¹ has rejected the Big Bang model of the universe as “philosophically unacceptable,” and Jean-Marc Lévy-Leblond ² has replied: “It need...

... the impression that things exist or endure in time. The chapter discusses the extreme form of this, the so-called problem of time in quantum cosmology, which suggests that the wave-function of the universe is changeless and that time does not exist on the cosmological level. Block Universe present spacetime...

... Wheeler-DeWitt equation, while Chapter 6 presents loop quantum gravity. The next two chapters then discuss the major applications — quantization of black holes and quantum cosmology. Chapter 9 gives an introduction to string theory by focusing on its quantum gravitational aspects. The book concludes...

...This chapter looks at loop quantum cosmology. This corresponds to the application of techniques that resemble those of loop quantum gravity to cosmologies viewed as finite dimensional systems. The chapter discusses the differences that arise with the traditional treatments of quantum cosmology...

... applications - quantization of black holes and quantum cosmology. Chapter 9 gives an introduction to string theory by focusing on its quantum gravitational aspects. Chapter 10 contains a discussion of interpretational issues: the relevance of quantum gravity for the foundations of quantum theory and the arrow...

... of quantum eld theory. Chapter 7 introduces Ashtekar s new variables for general relativity. Chapter 8 develops the loop representation for general relativity. Chapter 9 presents quantum cosmology as an application. Chapter 10 discusses several miscellaneous applications including black hole entropy...

...This chapter considers the second important application of quantum gravity - quantum cosmology. The central concept of minisuperspace is introduced and applied to the quantization of a Friedmann universe. Inhomogeneities are taken into account in a perturbative sense. A central role of this chapter...

...This chapter considers the second important application of quantum gravity — quantum cosmology. The central concept of minisuperspace is introduced and applied to the quantization of a Friedmann universe. Inhomogeneities are taken into account in a perturbative sense. A central role of this chapter...

... ‘momentum’, the chapter derives the result that the extended Hamiltonian is zero on the surface of constraints, that is, over the true or classical trajectory. The implications of this for quantum cosmology and the ‘problem of time’ discussed in Chapter 8 are examined and analysed in terms of contextual...