Quantum fluctuations and nonavoidance of the singularity in Bianchi type I cosmology

Abstract

An effective metric is defined and used for analyzing the quantum fluctuations in a classical geometry. Earlier work showing that quantum (conformal) fluctuations avoid the classical singularity in the case of spherically symmetric collapse is briefly reviewed. It is shown that this result doesnot extend to anisotropic Bianchi type I cosmology. Here the dispersion in the fluctuations increases too slowly to quench the classical singularity. The singularity persists in the space-time described by the effective metric.