Chaos in Quantum Cosmology

Abstract

Much of the foundational work on quantum cosmology employs a simple minisuperspace model describing a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe containing a massive scalar field. We show that the classical limit of this model exhibits deterministic chaos and explore some of the consequences for the quantum theory. In particular, the breakdown of the WKB approximation calls into question many of the standard results in quantum cosmology.

4 pages, 4 figures, RevTex two column style. Minor revisions and clarifications to reflect version published in Phys. Rev. Lett