Eur. Phys. J. C (2015) 75: 38
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-014-3241-4

Letter

On the relation between boundary proposals and hidden symmetries of the extended pre-big bang quantum cosmology

¹ Department of Physics, Shahid Beheshti University, G. C., Evin, 19839, Tehran, Iran
² Centro de Matemática e Aplicações-UBI, Covilhã, Portugal
³ Departmento de Física, Universidade da Beira Interior, 6200, Covilhã, Portugal

^* e-mail: pmoniz@ubi.pt

Received: 11 July 2014
Accepted: 17 December 2014
Published online: 29 January 2015

Abstract

A framework associating quantum cosmological boundary conditions to minisuperspace hidden symmetries has been introduced in Jalalzadeh and Moniz (Phys Rev D 89:083504, 2014). The scope of the application was, notwithstanding the novelty, restrictive because it lacked a discussion involving realistic matter fields. Therefore, in the present letter, we extend the framework scope to encompass elements from a scalar–tensor theory in the presence of a cosmological constant. More precisely, it is shown that hidden minisuperspace symmetries present in a pre-big bang model suggest a process from which boundary conditions can be selected.