Quantum Cosmology of $f(R,T)$ gravity

Understand

Modified gravity theories have the potential of explaining the recent acceleration of the Universe without resorting to the mysterious concept of dark energy.

• In particular, it has been pointed out that matter-geometry coupling may be responsible for the recent cosmological dynamics of the Universe, and matter itself may play a more fundamental role in the description of the gravitational processes that usually assumed.
• We study the quantum cosmology of the $f(R,T)$ gravity theory, in which the effective Lagrangian of the gravitational field is given by an arbitrary function of the Ricci scalar, and the trace of the matter energy-momentum tensor, respectively.
• For the background geometry we adopt the Friedmann--Robertson--Walker metric, and we assume that matter content of the Universe consists of a perfect fluid.