Description

Research focus: quantum cosmology and quantum gravity

Our research is focused on investigation of the early universe, quantum gravity, black hole physics and the problem of singularity in general relativity.

Quantum origin of the universe's structure

In 1980-1981 V. Mukhanov and G. Chibisov have discovered that the galaxies, their clusters and correspondingly starts and planets could originate from the amplified initial quantum fluctuations in the earlier universe. The predictions of the quantum origin of the Large Scale Structure of the Universe were recently confirmed in the numerous experiments in which there were measured the temperature fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB). In particular the space mission Planck which delivered us the most precise picture of the universe when it was only about few hundreds thousands years old (see Fig.1) is in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions leaving no doubts that the quantum fluctuations have served as the “seeds” for the galaxies. One of the interesting questions yet remain to be fully understood is the transition from quantum fluctuations to the classical perturbations and about the which played quantum decoherence in this process.

Selected publications

• Quantum Fluctuations and a Nonsingular Universe, JETP Lett. 33 532(1981)
• Gravitational Instability of the Universe Filled with a Scalar Field, JETP Lett. 41 493 (1985)
• Theory of Cosmological perturbations, Phys. Rept. 215 203 (1992)
• Quantum Cosmological Perturbations: Predictions and Observations, Eur. Phys. J. C 73 2486 (2013)
• Physical Foundations of Cosmology, V. Mukhanov, Cambridge University Press (2005)
• Inflation without Selfreproductions, Fortsch. Phys. 63 (2015)

Quantum effects in gravity

An yet unknown Nonperturbative Quantum Gravity can lead to the area quantization of the black hole. As it was shown by J. Bekenstein and V. Mukhanov in this case the spectrum of the Hawking radiation from the black hole is strongly modified. Recently it was shown that this quantization can naturally be obtained within Noncommutative Geometry approach to Quantum Gravity. The mysterious Dark Energy and Dark Matter dominating our Universe can also be explained in this case as a consequence of the existence of the quanta of geometry. Moreover, the unavoidable gravity modification opens the new perspectives for resolving cosmological and black hole singularities.

Selected publications

• Spectroscopy of the quantum black hole, Phys. Lett. B360 7 (1995)
• Quanta of geometry. Noncommutative Aspects, Phys. Rev. Lett. 114 091302 (2015)
• Resolving Cosmological Singularities, JCAP 03 9 (2017)