Can a quantum mixmaster universe undergo a spontaneous inflationary phase?

Abstract

We study a semiclassical model of the mixmaster universe. We first derive the quantum model and then introduce its semiclassical approximation. We employ a general integral quantization method that respects the symmetries of the model given by the affine and the Weyl-Heisenberg groups, and can produce a wide class of quantum models. The semiclassical approximation is based on the coherent states. The semiclassical dynamics is complex and cannot be solved by analytical methods. We focus on a key qualitative feature of the dynamics, namely, we investigate whether the primordial anisotropic universe can undergo a spontaneous inflationary phase driven by the anisotropic energy combined with semiclassical corrections. The answer to this question provides a useful perspective on the inflationary paradigm as well as on alternative bouncing models.