Effective equations for isotropic quantum cosmology including matter

Understand

Effective equations often provide powerful tools to develop a systematic understanding of detailed properties of a quantum system.

• This is especially helpful in quantum cosmology where several conceptual and technical difficulties associated with the full quantum equations can be avoided in this way.
• Here, effective equations for Wheeler-DeWitt and loop quantizations of spatially flat, isotropic cosmological models sourced by a massive or interacting scalar are derived and studied.
• The resulting systems are remarkably different from that given for a free, massless scalar.