Time evolution in quantum cosmology

Abstract

A commonly adopted relational account of time evolution in generally-covariant systems, and more specifically in quantum cosmology, is argued to be unsatisfactory, insofar as it describes evolution relative to observed readings of a clock that does not exist as a bona fide observable object. A modified strategy is proposed, in which evolution relative to the proper time that elapses along the worldline of a specific observer can be described through the introduction of a `test clock', regarded as internal to, and hence unobservable by, that observer. This strategy is worked out in detail in the case of a homogeneous cosmology, in the context of both a conventional Schrodinger quantization scheme, and a `polymer' quantization scheme of the kind inspired by loop quantum gravity. Particular attention is given to limitations placed on the observability of time evolution by the requirement that a test clock should contribute only a negligible energy to the Hamiltonian constraint. It is found that suitable compromises are available, in which the clock energy is reasonably small, while Dirac observables are reasonably sharply defined.