Research Papers (JVN)

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1983 - 19872

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Author: search.filters.author.Padmanabhan, T.Subject: search.filters.subject.Universe

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    Quantum cosmology as a cure of three ailments of classical cosmology
    (Astronomical Society of India, 1983-08-12) Padmanabhan, T.; Narlikar, J. V.
    The standard big bang models of classical cosmology are known to possess three defects. The oldest known defect is spacetime singularity whose existence seems inevitable within the classical framework. The second defect is the existence of a particle horizon which severely limits communications across the distant parts of the universe whose observed homogeneity therefore becomes inexplicable. Recently a third defect has been highlighted, viz., the required fine tuning of the early universe close to the flat spatial model in order to account for the present range of its mean density. We show before that the injection of quantum ideas holds out hope of a cure for all the three ailments described above. Using a simple path integral formalism for quantum cosmology we present arguments which suggest that (i) it is extremely unlikely that the universe evolved to the present state from quantum states of singularity and particles horizon;(ii) of all the possible Robertson-Walker models that could evolve our of quantum fluctuations of the empty Minkowski universe the flat model is overwhelmingly probable.
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    Schwarzschild solution: some conceptual difficulties
    (Springer, 1987-04-27) Narlikar, J. V.; Padmanabhan, T.
    It is shown that inconsistencies arise when we look upon the Schwarzschild solution as the space-time arising from a localized point singularity. The notion of black holes is critically examined, and it is argued that, since black hole formation never takes place within the past light cone of a typical external observer, the discussion of physical behavior of black holes, classical or quantum, is only of academic interest. It is suggested that problems related to the source could be avoided if the event horizon did not form and that the universe only contained quasi-black holes.