We construct approximate solutions of the hybrid quantum Gowdy cosmology with three-torus topology, linear polarization, and local rotational symmetry, in the presence of a massless scalar field. More specifically, we determine some families of states for which the complicated inhomogeneous and anisotropic Hamiltonian constraint operator of the Gowdy model is approximated by a much simpler one. Our quantum states follow the dynamics governed by this simpler constraint, while being at the same time also approximate solutions of the full Gowdy model. This is so thanks to the quantum correlations that the considered states present between the isotropic and anisotropic sectors of the model. Remarkably, this simpler constraint can be regarded as that of a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe filled with different kinds of perfect fluids and geometrically corrected by homogeneous and isotropic curvaturelike terms. Therefore, our quantum states, which are intrinsically inhomogeneous, admit approximate homogeneous and isotropic effective descriptions similar to those considered in modified theories of gravity.

• Received 30 April 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.92.024007