The objective of this project is to gain a better understanding of the application of quantum mechanics to the entire universe. In particular, what does quantum mechanics imply for the size and shape of the universe, for the properties of small wormholes which may connect otherwise disconnected large regions of spacetime, for the process of black-hole formation and evaporation, and for the arrow of time? The methods used to attack these questions will be, among others, a theoretical study of complex classical solutions of Einstein's equations as a basis for a semiclassical quantum analysis, a construction of model universe and wormhole wavefunctions and density matrices based on these classical solutions and on other mathematical techniques, and an analysis of the entropy of conditional density matrices and how it changes as the condition representing time is changed. The project will have the significance of advancing our scientific knowledge of the unity of nature as a single quantum mechanical universe.
