Creation of the Quantum Universe and Precise Calculation of the Wave Function of the Universe

In modern cosmology, the idea that the universe was created from nothing through quantum effects has been a topic of active research. However, a long-standing debate has persisted regarding which of two prominent hypotheses—the no-boundary proposal or the tunneling proposal—is correct.

A research team, including Hiroki Matsui (Postdoctoral fellow, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics), Kazumasa Okabayashi (Postdoctoral fellow, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics), Masazumi Honda (Senior Research Scientist, RIKEN), and Takahiro Terada (Research Assistant Professor, Nagoya University), has made significant progress in this debate by calculating the wave function of the universe from first principles, without the need for arbitrary assumptions about either proposal. Previous analyses left mathematical ambiguities unresolved, but this team eliminated those ambiguities using a method called resurgence theory. Their calculations rigorously demonstrated, under certain assumptions, that the wave function of the universe aligns with predictions from the tunneling proposal, not the no-boundary proposal.

This result is a giant step forward in resolving the longstanding debate between these two hypotheses.

For more details, please refer to the Kyoto University press release via the related links.