Observational Exclusion of a Consistent Quantum Cosmology Scenario

It is often argued that inflation erases all the information about what took place before it started. Quantum gravity, relevant in the Planck era, seems therefore mostly impossible to probe with cosmological observations. In general, only very ad hoc scenarios or hyper fine-tuned initial conditions can lead to observationally testable theories. Here we consider a well-defined and well motivated candidate quantum cosmology model that predicts inflation. Using the most recent observational constraints on the cosmic microwave background B modes, we show that the model is excluded for all its parameter space, without any tuning. Some important consequences are drawn for the deformed algebra approach to loop quantum cosmology. We emphasize that neither loop quantum cosmology in general nor loop quantum gravity are disfavored by this study but their falsifiability is established.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figur

A Qualitative Study of Prayer as the Pastor\u27s Work

Problem This study is an attempt to understand the pastor’s perspective regarding prayer as a part of his/her work. The nature of the pastor’s work has been debated throughout the history of the Christian church without consensus. This uncertainty regarding the role of the pastor is increasing. In the confusion over what constitutes the pastor’s job, his/her call to be a person of prayer has been largely lost sight of. A critical need exists to understand prayer as a priority for pastors. Method The study is divided into two sections. The first section is an overview of the relevant biblical materials in which special attention is given to prayer as a function of the prototypes of modem ministry: the apostles and their successors, the elders. The second is a discussion of the major themes discovered in a series of personal in- depth, open-ended interviews conducted with a purposive sample of five practicing clergy of various denominations regarding their understanding of prayer as part of their work. In both instances, the approach is a qualitative inquiry seeking to appreciate what pastors do in the settings in which they work. Results The pastors who, as “living human documents,” participated in this study exhibit several significant characteristics. They wrestle with feelings of guilt about their prayer lives. They also struggle with the challenge to balance their role as persons of prayer with the pressures of everyday ministry. The pastors also express a desire to be held accountable for being persons of prayer. Conclusions If pastors are to give greater priority to prayer as a function of ministry in the modem church, there will need to be (1) a renewed understanding of the role prayer played in New Testament ministry, (2) more appreciation of the contradictions pastors live with in their work, and (3) increased support from their denominations and congregations for their work of prayer

Primordial scalar power spectrum from the Euclidean Big Bounce

In effective models of loop quantum cosmology, the holonomy corrections are associated with deformations of space-time symmetries. The most evident manifestation of the deformations is the emergence of an Euclidean phase accompanying the non-singular bouncing dynamics of the scale factor. In this article, we compute the power spectrum of scalar perturbations generated in this model, with a massive scalar field as the matter content. Instantaneous and adiabatic vacuum-type initial conditions for scalar perturbations are imposed in the contracting phase. The evolution through the Euclidean region is calculated based on the extrapolation of the time direction pointed by the vectors normal to the Cauchy hypersurface in the Lorentzian domains. The obtained power spectrum is characterized by a suppression in the IR regime and oscillations in the intermediate energy range. Furthermore, the speculative extension of the analysis in the UV reveals a specific rise of the power.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure