Quantum coherence, wormholes, and the cosmological constant
- 15 August 1989
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review D
- Vol. 40 (4) , 1053-1063
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.40.1053
Abstract
Coleman has argued that if wormhole solutions to the Euclidean action coupled to matter dominate the Euclidean path integral for quantum gravity, they do not lead to a loss of quantum coherence for wave functions in our Universe. Furthermore, they also lead to the prediction that the "ultimate" cosmological constant is zero. I analyze the assumptions that go into this result and argue that the presence of wormhole solutions does lead to a loss of quantum coherence and, furthermore, completely destroys the Euclidean quantum theory by producing a highly nonlocal effective Euclidean action which is violently unbounded from below.Keywords
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