Quantum creation of a universe with Ω≠1:: Singular and nonsingular instantons -: art. no. 083503

We propose two new classes of instantons which describe the tunneling and/or quantum creation of closed and open universes. The instantons leading to an open universe can be considered as generalizations of the Coleman-De Luccia solution. They are nonsingular, unlike the instantons recently studied by Hawking and Turok, whose prescription has the problem that the singularity is located on the hypersurface connecting to the Lorentzian region, which makes it difficult to remove. We argue that such singularities are harmless if they are located purely in the Euclidean region. We thus obtain new singular instantons leading to a closed universe; unlike the usual regular instantons used for this purpose, they do not require complex initial conditions. The singularity gives a boundary contribution to the action which is small for the instantons leading to sufficient inflation, but changes the sign of the action for small phi corresponding to short periods of inflation. [S0556-2821(98)08016-3].