An attempt is made to go beyond the standard semi-classical approximation for gravity in the Born-Oppenheimer decomposition of the wave-function in minisuperspace. New terms are included which correspond to quantum gravitational fluctuations on the background metric. Their existence renders the definition of the semi-classical limit rather delicate and can lead to the avoidance of the singularities the classical theory predicts in cosmology and in the gravitational collapse of compact objects.
Categories: gr-qc astro-ph hep-th