Bases of Wormholes in Quantum Cosmology

Abstract

We show that if the space of physical states spanned by the wormhole wave functions can be equipped with a Hilbert structure, such a Hilbert space must coincide with that of the Lorentzian gravitational system under consideration. The physical inner product can then be determined by imposing a set of Lorentzian reality conditions. The Hilbert space of the gravitational model admits in this case a basis of wormhole solutions, and every proper quantum state can be interpreted as a superposition of wormholes. We also argue that the wave functions that form the basis of wormholes must be eigenfunctions of a complete set of compatible observables. The associated eigenvalues provide a set of well-defined wormhole parameters, in the sense that they can be employed to designate the different elements of the basis of wormholes. We analyse in detail the case of a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetime minimally coupled to a massless scalar field. For this minisuperspace, we prove the validity of all the above statements and discuss various admissible choices of bases of wormhole wave functions.