JERUSALEM WINTER SCHOOL

FOR THEORETICAL PHYSICS

I
COSMOLOGY
AND
BABY UNIVERSES

Volume7

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Jerusalem, Israel 27 Dec 89 - 4 Jan 90

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QUANTUM COSMOLOGY AND BABY UNIVERSFS

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 245

Wormholes and Non-simply Connected Manifolds

S. W. Hawking

Department of Applied Mathemat ics and Theoretical Phys ics

University of Cambridge
Silver Street
Cambridge CB3 9EW
UK

January 1990

One of t he things I found most mysterious, when I first learnt quantum mechanics,
was that one did not deal with the probability density, for finding an electron at the point
x. Instead, one worked with a wave function, .,P(x) , which was a comp le x s quare root of the
probability density. Of course, the fact that one deals with amplitudes or wave functions,
is fundamental to quant um mechanics, because it allows the possib ility of interference:
probabilit ies are necessarily real and posit ive, so they can only add up . But amplitudes or
wave funct ions, can be negative or complex, so they can cancel each ot her. Nevertheless,
it was not clear to me, why one could describe t he state of an electron by a wave function,
rat her than just by a probability density.
At first , I thought it must be just my stupidity, because everyone else seemed to
accept wave functions wit hout quest ion. However, I later found that Schroedinger had
had t he same prob lem as me. When he first discovered his equat ion, he t hought it applied
to t he probability density. But this did not give agreement with observat ion. It was only
subsequent ly, that he r ealized that he could get agreement if the equat ion governed, not
the probab ility density, but a comp lex valued quant ity, whose modulus s quared is the
probability density.
One of the aims of t his lecture , is to explain to people who are as stupid as Schroedinger
and myself, why it is t hat one can work wi th amplitudes or wave fun ct ions , rather t han
246 S. W. HAWKING

probabilit ies. The reason is, that ordinary flat spacetime is simply connected. This means
that a surface of constant time, divides spacetime into two parts , M+, and M_.
The significance of this can be seen as follows: I shall work in Euclidean spacetime
[1]. Then the probability of a four dimensional field configurat ion, tP, is exp(-l(tP)]. H ere
I is t he Euclidean action. One has to specify the class of field configurat ions on which the
probability measure, e-1, acts. The choice of t his class determines the quantum state of
the field. The usual choice is suitably regular fields, t hat vanish at infinity. This defines
the vacuum st ate.
One can then calculate the probability that , in the vacuum state, tP = tPo, on a surface
of constant time, S. This is given by integrat ing the probab ility, e-1, over the values of
tP everywhere except on S, where it is fixed. One can write t his path integral over all tP,
as a product of two wave functions, 1/J:(tPo) . 1/J-(tPo) is given by a path integral over fields
tP in the half space, M_, below S, wit h tP = 0 at infinity, and tP = tPo on S. Similarly,
1/J+(tPo) is given by a path integral over values of tP in the upper half space, M+. When one
Wick rotates back from Euclidean space, to Minkowski space, 1/J+ becomes the complex
conjugate of ,,p_, So the probability of having the field, tPo, on S, is the modulus squared,
of a wave funct ion, ,,P(tPo). Thus, t he reason one can work with amplitudes rather t han
probabilities, is t hat one can factorize the path integral, by introducing a surface which
divides spacetime into two parts. This is very elementary, and I'm sure it was obvious to
many people. But no one bothered to e xplain it to me, or to Schroedinger, for t hat matter.
I have gone over it at such length, because it will be relevant when I discuss wormholes.
In the absence of gravity, spacet ime is flat , and has the topology, R:'. More inter­
esting topologies are possible if one includes curvature. However, in t he case of classical
spacetimes with a Lorentzian metric, a theorem of Gero ch (2] implies that a surface of
constant t ime, divides spacetime into two parts, if the met ric is what is called, globally
hyperbolic. This means that the metric is such, that every event can be predicted from
data on a Cauchy surface. H the metric were not globally hyperbolic, extra informat ion
could come in from infinity, or from singularit ies. One would not have a deterministic
theory, unless one had a theory of boundary condit ions. It would be difficult to formulate
boundary condit ions at singularit ies.
The s it uat ion in quantum gravity is different , however. It seems necessary to use
metrics wit h pos it ive definite, or Euclidean, signature (3], rather than Lorent�ian sign at ure,
as in classical spacet ime. Any manifold can be given a posit ive definite metric, so there
are no restrictions on the topology. In particular, there is no bar on manifolds t hat are
not simply connected. In a non simply connected manifold, a single connected surface,
may not divide the manifold into two parts . For example, a circle around a torus, does
not divide the torus into two separate pa.r ts, because t hey are joined together by t he other
side of the torus.
 WORMHOLES AND NON-SIMPLY CONNECTED MANIFOLDS 247

If a surlace does not divide a manifold into two part s, one can not factorize the
probability for a field configuration on the surlace, into the product of path integrals
on the two parts. Thus, one can not define wave functions, on a non simply connected
manifold.
In general, one can make a manifold simply connected, by cutting it with a finite
number of surfaces, an d t aking a finite number of copies of each point . For simplicity, I
will consider only manifolds that can be made simply connected just by cutting with a

finite number of s urfaces, Si, without having to take extra copies of points. Then one can
consider the probability of a field configurat ion, </>o, on a surface, S, given that the field
has the configurat ion, </>ii on each surlace, Si. In this case, the surf ace, S, will divide the
manifold into two parts , if the surfaces , Si, are cut out. One can therefore factorize the
conditional probabi lity for the configuration, </>o, on S, given t he configurat ions , </>i, on the
surfaces, Si. The condi t ional probabi li ty of any observable on S, given </>i on Si, can be
calculated from the condit ional wave funct ions . The tot al prob ability can then be obt ained
by integrat ing over al l possible configurations , </>i, on the surfaces , sj.
The simplest example of a non simply connected spacet ime, is fl.at Euclidean space,
whi ch is ident ified with period /3, in the Euclidean time direction. This manifold arises,
when one cons iders thermal equilibrium, at a temperature, T = 1 //3. Although it is a
very elementary e xample, I shall consider it in detail, to establish ideas to be used in more
complicated examples, of non simply connected manifolds.
Le t S be t he surface, T = 0, where T is the Euclidean t ime coordinate . S does not
divide the space into two parts, because it is not simply connected in the t ime direction.
However, one can make the manifold simply connected, by cutt ing it along a surlace, Si,
which can be taken to be half way round the Euclidean time circle . O ne then has a strip ,
from S1 at T = -/3/2, through s ato, to s�, another copy of S1 a t T = /3/ 2 . Consider
T =
'
a scalar field, </>, of mass m, on this manifold . One can decompose it into spatial Fourier
components, </>( k, r ) . From now on , I will consi der a single Fourier component k, and will
drop t he label, k.
Given the values , ¢> 1, and</>�, of¢>, on S1 , and S�, one can do the p ath integral, to get
the probability distribut ion for the values , </>o, on S. This can be factori zed into two wave
funct ions, .,p_, which is given by a path integral over all </> in the strip from, r = -/3/2 to
r = 0. And 1/J+, wh ich is given by a path integr al in t he strip from r = 0, to T = /3 /2. 1/J­
and 1/J+ are each given by the expression:

in terms of eigenstates of the </> field, on the surlaces, S and S1. Here w = j( k2 + m2) .
This e xpression is not very illuminating. However, each Fourier component behaves like a
248 S. W. HAWKING

harmonic oscillator of frequency, w. It is therefore natural to express t he states of the field

on S and S1, in terms of harmonic oscillator states, In), instead of posit ion eigenstates,
I</>}. The conditional wave function 1/J_, for the state, Jn}, on S, given the state, lni), on
Si, is, exp(-,8En/2]8n,n1• Here En = n V w is the energy of the state I n} where Vis the

sp at ial volume. Similarly, the wave function, 1/J+, is exp(-.8En/2]8n,n1• Thus the field is in
the st ate, In}, on S, with probability, e-/JE... One can say that the quant um state of the
field is described by a density matri x, p = L:n I n } e-PEn (n l. The s ummat ion corresponds
to summing over the states on the surlace, S1. As we shall see, one can always express
quantum t heory on a non simply conn ected manifold, as a sum over quant um st ates on
simply connected manifolds.

The first indication that quantum gr avity, required the inclusion of non simply con­
nect ed manifolds, came with the discovery of black hole evaporat ion (4]. One could imagine
that one formed a black hole, from the collapse of a star made up of massive fermions ,
such as bary ons . For most of the life t ime of the black hole, semi classical external field
calculations should be a good approximat ion. These indicate that t he black hole will send
out thermal radiat ion, mainly in the form of zero rest mass parti cles, such as neutrinos,
photons, and gravitons. The energy carri ed away by these particles, will cause the black
hole to lose mass, and get smaller. When t he black hole gets down to near the Planck mass,
the external field approximation will break down. We do not know how to cal culate what
happ ens, at t his stage, but the best guess is that the black hole disapp ears completely,
leaving just empty space. The black hol e might give out massive fermions in the final
stages, but the mass remaining then, would only be a small fract ion of the original mass.
Thus most of t he original massive fermions, would not reappear . What would happen to
the rest of the fermions? Some people have argued that Grand Uni fied Theory, would allow
massive fermions, like baryons, to de cay into light parti cles , like neutrinos and photons.
However, t he emission from the black hole for most of its life time, would be thermal, and
would be independent of the details of the part icular grand unified theory, such as decay
rates, and branching ratios. Or one could consider a parti cle theory, in which a massive
fermion was conserved by a global symmetry. If one accepts the no boundary proposal for
spacetime (5], the massive fermions can not di sappear into a singularity. Instead, there
has to be somewhere in Euclidean spacetime, for them to go to. The only reasonable
p ossibility, seems to be a small tube or wormhole, leading to another region of,.spacet ime .
The other end of the wormhole, would appear to be another black hole, which formed from
the collapse of a star made of massive ant i fermions, and evaporated, giv ing off the ant i
particles to the t hermal radiation emi tted by the first black hole .

If wormholes and non simply connected manifolds, can occur when black holes form
and evaporate, one might expect that much smaller wormhole s would be o ccuring all the
time, as virtual processes (6]. These virtual wormholes could have si zes of the order of the
 WORMHOLES AND NON- SI MPLY CONNECTED MANIFOLDS 249

Planck length. They would act like virtu al black holes, swallowing a few part icles, and
giving off a few different part icles. However, the scale of the wormholes , would be much
smaller than the scale on whi ch we observe physics. Thus, they would appear as point
interact ions, in whi ch a certain number of parti cles, t urn into other part icles . I shall show
later how to calculate t he effect ive interact ions that correspond to a wormhole joining on .
Very small wormholes have been studied mainly as instantons , that is, solutions of the
classical Euclidean field equat ions [7]. These are saddle points in the path integral. One
can use them to give a semi classical treatment, if one makes the dilu te wormhole approx­
imat ion. This means neglecting t he interaction between the ends, of different wormholes
joining on to the same large region.
However, wormhole-lik e solutions occur only for certain special k inds of matter, that
allow the Ricci tensor to have negative eigenvalues. These don 't include p ure Einstein
gravity, or minimally coupled scalar fields ( unless they are pure imaginary) . But they
include an anti symmetric t ensor field, whose field equat ions in four dimensions , are equiv­
alent to those of a scalar field. There are no known elect ro-magnet ic wormhole solut ions
in four dimensions, but there are Yang Mills solut ions [8]. These however, in general do
not seem to be local minima of the act ion. It is not clear therefore, that they contribute to
the semi classical approximat ion. There are Yang Mills solut ions wh ich are lo cal minima
of the action, but they exist only when t he Yang Mills field i s not coupled to any fields
in the fundamental representation [9]. Moreover, these solutions have a maximum throat
size of a few Planck units. This makes it difficult to see how they could carry away, all the
particles and information t hat are lost, when a macroscopic black hole evaporates.
Is one therefore to assume that wormholes are important , only in the very restricted
class of theories, in wh ich the matter content allows wormhole instantons? That would
make i t difficult to believe, that wormholes are the mechanism for black hole evaporat ion .
Black holes w ill form, and evaporate, in t heories with any reasonable matter content , or
even no matter content , b ut just p ure gravity. But wormhole inst antons don't exist in
p ure Einstein gravity. The non existence of instantons, for gener al mat ter contents, would
also cast doubt on whe ther wormholes are the reason, why the cosmological constant is

zero. I will therefore advo cate a different approach, in which wormholes are regarded, not
as solut ions of the classical Euclidean field equat ions, but as solut ions of the quant um
mechanical Wheeler De Wit t equat ion [10]. These solut ions have to obey certain boundary
condit ions, in order that t hey represent wormholes. The boundary condit ions seem to
be, that th e wave fun ct ion is exponentially d amped for large three geometries. And it is
regular, in some suitable way, when the three geometry collapses to zero. I shall argue
that there is a discrete s pect rum, of solutions of the Wheeler De Wi t t equat ion, that obey
these boundary condit ions. I shall illustrate this, with a discussion of mini supersp ace
solut ions of the Wheeler DeWitt equation, with a scalar field. T here is a cont inuous
250 S. W. HAWKING

family of solut ions, that are eigenfunct ions of the scalar flux operator . They correspond
to the instant on solut ions found, by Giddings a.nd St rominger [7]. The wave funct ions are
damped at infinity, but they oscillate infinitely near zero radius. However, these solut ions
can be expressed as a.n infinite sum, of a discret e family of. solut ions, that are well b ehaved,
both at infinity, and at zero radius.
In the dilute wormhole approximation, one can t reat each wormhole separately, as
joining two asymptot ically Euclidean regions. I shall therefore consider Euclidean metrics
of topology, R1 x S3 ' which are asymptotically Euclidean at each end of the R1• The
idea is to study the effe ct of the wormhole, on physics in the two asymptoti c regions, at
energies low compared to the Planck s cale. For this purpose, one wants to calculate the
Green fun ctions for points, x1, x2, et c, in one region, and yi, y2, et c, in the other region [6].
The x and y point s, will be far from t he t hroat of the wormhole, and can be regarded as
being in flat space. One can then factori ze the Green functions by introducing a complete
set of states for t he wormhole:

(</>(x1)</>(x 2 ) ..• </>(y1)<l>(Y2)) = L (OI </>(x1)</>(x2)" • l1P1c) (1P1: I </>(y1)</>(y2) . . · I O)

k

where the state, IO), is the usual vacuum state for asymptoti cally Euclidean space, and the
11/Jk), are a complete orthonormal set of wormhole states. This factorization is equivalent
to cutting t he wormhole with a surface, S, and introducing a sum over the fields on S.
What ar e these wormhole stat es, l1Pk), on the surface S. The quantum states of the
wormhole can b e describ ed by wave ftmct ions, '\II k, which dep end on the t hree metr ic,
h1;, and matter fields, </>0, on S. The wave funct ions w ill ob ey t he Wheeler DeWitt , and
momentum constraint equations, at all finite non zero three metrics:

However, if the wave functions are to correspond to wormholes, rather than other kinds of
spacet ime, they should also obey certain boundary condi tions when the t hr ee met ri c, h1;,
degenerat es, or b ecomes infinite.
Th e boundary condit ions when hi; degenerat es, should express the fact t hat the m etric
is non singular . It is not clear what these bmmdary condi t ions should be, in th e full
sup erspace of all t hree metrics. But in mini superspace models , like those I shall describ e,
it seems reasonabl e to suppose t hat the wave function should b e regular, as the radi us, a,

ap proaches zero, or ( depending on the factor orderi ng) mayb e go as a power of the radius
a. It certainly should not oscillat e an infinit e number of times .
 WORMHOLES AND NON-SIMPLY CONNECTED MANIFOLD S 251

The boundary condit ion when hi; is large, should express t he condi tion that the met ric
is asymptot ically Eucli dean. One can int erpret this, as saying that there are no gravita­
t ional excitations, in th e asymptot ic stat e. If one also imposed t he boundary condit ion,
that there were no matter excitat ions in the asymptot ic region, one would get a 'ground
state', or vacuum wave funct ion, 1/Jo. Like the no boundary wave fun ction, one can obt ain
the vacuum wave funct ion from a path int egral.:

In the case of the no boundary state, the path integral. is over all compact metrics and
matter fields , wit h the given boundary values . But in the case of the vacuum state, the
path integral. is over all asymptot ically Euclidean metrics, and all m atter fields t hat are
zero, or gauge equivalent to zero, at infinity.
2
In mini sup erspace models, the no boundary wave function increases as, e4 12, where
a is the radius of the three surface. On t he other hand, the vacuum state wave func­
2
tion decreases like, e-4 12• This difference comes about because th e main term in the
gravitational. action is the surface term (11]

Here [( is t he trace of the second fundament al. form, of the outward dire cted normal to
th e surface. In the case of the no b oundary wave function, t he st at ionary phase met ric
for zero matter field, is flat space inside a three sphere of radius a. The out ward normals
are diverging, so the act ion is negative . Th is makes the no boundary wave funct ion, grow
with the size of the t hree surface . On the other hand, the stat ionary phase metric for
the vacuum wave funct ion, is flat space outside a t hree sphere of radius a. The outward
normals will be converging, so the action will be positive, and the wave function will be

d amped at large radius.

However, there are other solutions of the Wheeler DeWit t e quat ion, that are also
regular at zero radius, and are damped at large radius. Some of these solut ions can
be expressed as s uperpositions of solutions, that have a non zero flux of a cons erved
quant it y, across the three surface , S. Such solut ions can not close off with a compact four
geomet ry, for then· the flux would be zero. The behavior at large radius, indicates that
t hese s olut ions are asymp tot ically Euclidean, and t he regularity at a = O, indicates that
they are non sing1:1lar. Thus, t hese solutions must correspond t o wormholes, that connect
two asymptot ically Euclidean regions.
The ground state for the wormhole, w ill be defined by a path integral. over all met rics
of the t opology, R1 >< S3, w hich are asymptot ically Euclidean at each end of the R1 . The
25 2 S. W. HAWKING

matter fields in the p ath integral will be gauge equivalent to zero at each end of the Rl.
This means that the wave function for the ground state of the wormhole, will be identical
to that for t he vacuum stat e. It will be given by a path integral, over all asymptotically
Euclidean metrics, and all asymptoticall y zero matter fields, that have the given values on
the surface. On the other hand, the other s olutions of the Wheeler D eWitt equation, that
are regular at a= 0, and damped at large radius, can be interpre ted as 'excited states' of
wormholes [6]. Such solutions can also be interpreted, as excited s tates of a closed universe.
This is because the wave function os cillat es at small a, and so corresponds to a Lorentzian
closed Friedmann metric. However, one can equally well interpret the wave functi on at
large a, where it is exponential, as corresponding to a Euclidean wormhole metri c. In fact,
the wormhole metric is the analytic continuati on of the Friedmann metric.
The wave functions of the excited wormhole states, can als o be represented by p ath
integrals. The metrics in the path integrals are asymptotically Euclidean, which means
that there are no gravitational excitations asymptotically. But the matter fields have
sources at infinity, which can be interpreted, as saying that there are matter particles
passing through the wormhole. Here, 'at infinity', means at distances large compared
to the characteri stic scale of the wormhole. This will be true of sources introduced to
calculate low energy Green functions, and also, in the dilute wormhole approximation, of
the effective sources provided by other wormholes. One can interp ret the dilute wormhole
approximation, as the statement that the wormholes are, 'on shell'. One then has boundary
conditions on the Wheeler De'¥itt equation that, at least in mini sup erspace examples,
allow only a discrete sp ectrum of solutions. However, when one goes beyond the dilute
wormhole approximation, and considers wormholes that are close together, one will have
to include a continuous family of 'off shell' wormhole states , in the sum over states .
The Wheeler D eWitt equation can be regarded as a wave equation, on the infinite
dimensional sp ace, called superspa ce [10]. This is the space of all three metrics, hi;, and
matter fields, </>o, on S. However, an infinite dimensional sp ace is hard to deal with. I shall
therefore consider a finite dimensional s ubspace, called mini sup erspace . That is, I shall
take a family of metrics and matter fields, that depend upon a fini te number of parameters.
I shall then extend to the infinite dimensional case, by considering perturbations about
the mini sup ersp ace models.
For the mini sup erspace models, I shall consider metri cs of the Euclidean Friedmann
form:

where u = 2/37rm;. If N is imaginary, this is the Lorentzian metri c of a Friedmann

universe. And if N is real, it is the metri c of an Euclidean wormhole. H owever, solutions
of the Wheeler D eWitt equation, are indep endent of N and t. So they can be interp reted
either as Friedmann universes, or as wormholes, according to w hether the wave function
 WORMHOLE S AND NON- SIMPLY CONNECTED MANIFOLD S 253

is oscillatory, or exponential.
I shall consi der first a zero mass minimally coupl ed scal ar field, �. In terms of the
rescaled field t/> = 21 1271"0'� the \Vheeler De Wit t equation is:

[ i a
a2 oa
a
a
oa -
i a2
a3 8¢>2
]
- a w(a,t/>) = o.

One can separate the Wheeler DeWitt equat ion into a radial factor, C(a), and at/> depen­
dence, eikcfl:
w(a,t/>) = C(a)eikc/I

The two solutions for the radial equation,

-
a2c ( k2 )
+ -- + - - a2
iac
C= 0
da2 a da a2

are Bessel functions J±ik/ (ia2/2) of imaginary order. There is a linear combinat ion of
2
2
these, that goes as e-" 2 at large radius. However, near a = O, the solutions oscillate an
1
infinit e number of t imes .
The wave function will fall off exponentially, for a > ./k. Thus, in this region, the
solutions will correspond to asymptotically Euclidean four geometries. However, these
solut ions are eigenstates of the scalar flux, Q = fs </>,µ dO"P, with eigenvalue, q = 271"2ik.
Because t he scalar flux is conserved, these Euclidean four geomet ries, cannot close off to
a non singular compact met ric, like in the no boundary condit ion. Thus, they must be
wormholes . The minimum ra.d ius will be of t he order of Vfc.
The solut ions oscillate for a < v'k. Thus in this region, t hey can be interpreted, as
corresp onding to classical Lorent zian Friedmann solut ions wit h a scalar fiux, iq. These
solut ions will e xpand from a = 0, to a maximum radius v'k. They will t hen collapse
again to a =.0. The infinite number of oscillations of the wave function near a= 0, will

correspond to the init ial and final singularit ies , of the Friedmann solut ion.
For real k, the Euclidean scalar flux will b e imaginary. Thus, t he gradient oft/>, will be
imaginary, on t he Eu clidean metric. This means the energy momentum tensor of the scalar
field, will be of the opposite si gn t o that of a scalar field, that was real on t he Euclidean
sect ion. The classical Euclidean solut ion, will be the same as t hat found by Giddings and
St rominger (7]. This is just the analytical cont inuat ion, of the classical Friedmann solution
w ith real ¢>.
In the semi classical approach to wormholes, one considers instantons, which are
classical Euclidean solutions . If one requires t hat the matter fields be real, such solut ions
exist only in special cases , like an anti symmetric tensor field, or t he Yang Mills field .
They do not exist for pure gravity. This would suggest that wormholes, would not b e a
254 S. W. HAWKING

general solution to the cosmological constant problem. On the other hand, in the quantum
mechanical wave function approach, one might expect that solutions of th e Wh eeler D eWitt
equation, with approp iat e b oundary condit ions , would exist for all reasonable forms of
matter.
Of course, the solutions given ab ove, do not satisfy the regular ity condition at a=0.
However, I sh all sh ow that there is another class of solutions , of the Wheeler Dewitt
equation, that are regular at a = 0, and are damped at large radius. O ne can introduce
new coordi nates , x and y, in mini supers pace:

x = asinh<P
y = acosh<P.

The Wheeler DeWitt equation then becomes the equation for two harmonic oscill ators,
with opposit e signs of the energy:

( a2 -
a2
- y2 + x2 ) 'II =0.
8y2 8x2

The soluti ons that are regular at the origin, and damped at infinity, are just products of
harmonic oscillator wave functions:

where

These harmonic oscillator solutions , form a basis for solutions of the Wheeler DeW itt
equation, that are regular at the origin, and damped at infinity. Thus they must transform
into each other, under the symmetry of th e \Vheeler DeWitt e quation, generated by adding
a constant to <P. O ne can regard this as a Lorentz transformation, in the x -y plane. This
is generated by the b oost Killing vector, J( = a I 8<P = y8I 8x + x a I 8y. One can express
the coordi nates , x, and y, of the two harmonic oscillators, in terms of annih ilation and
creation operators :
1
v'2
x =-(a + a t) % %

a 1
tz .
- = -(az -a)
8x ../2

Thus, one can express J(, in terms of annih ilation and creation operators :
 WORMHOLES AND NON-SIMPLY CONNECTED MANIFOLD S 255

One can use t his to express the]{ eigenstat es, in t erms of harmoni c oscillator states,
and vice v ersa. Write a [( state, as a sum of harmonic os cillator st ates , In), with coeffi­
cient s, Cn:
OC>
l k) = L Cn(k) In).
n=O

If one operates on each side wit h the symmet ry generator, K, one get s an iteration relation
for t he Cn. This is
ikcn = (n + 1)cn+l - ncn-1 .

One can solve this in terms of Co, which can be fixed by normalization. One can t herefore
regard the singular K eigenstates as being superposit ions of an infinite number of regular
harmonic oscillator solut ions. Similarly, the hannonic oscillator solut ions, can be regarded
as superposit ions of different [( eigenstates. It is like t he fact that wave packet solut ions of
t he wave equat ion, can be t hought of as superposit ion s of plane waves. T hus, t he harmonic
osci llator solut ions , can be interpreted as coherent st ates of classi cal solutions.
There is a s imilar discrete spectrum of hannon ic oscillator solut ions , for a mini super­
space model wit h a conformally invariant scalar field . Modulo factor o rdering, t he Wheeler
DeWit t equat ion is
(-
[)2
- a2 - -
[)2
+
)
x2 w = 0
8a2 ox2

where x = a </> . This again is two harmonic oscillators, in x and a, wit h opposite signs of t he
energy. There is a discrete family of solutions, which are products of harmonic oscillator
wave funct ions in x and a: W = ..Pn(a)..Pn(x). Again, one can make a cottespondence
between t hese solut ions of t he Wheeler De\V it t equat ion, and solut ions of t he classical field
equat ions rep resent ing an inst anton. The inst anton is somewhat pat hological, because t he
effect ive gravitat ional constant , G, changes s ign between the two asymptot ic regions (12].
However, they are perfectly well behaved as solut ions of the Wheeler DeW it t e quat ion.
Of course, conformally invariant , and massless minimally coupled s calar fields, are
rat her special forms of matter. Are t here solutions of t he Wheeler DeWi tt equat ion, which
are regular at zero, and are damped at large radius, for more general s calar fields, with a
p otent ial. This is diffi cult to answer, because one cannot get exact solut ions, even in t he
simple case of a massive minimal coupled scalar field. However, work t hat I'm doing wit h
Don Page (13], suggests t hat there will be a discrete spect rum of solutions o f t he Wheeler
DeWitt equation, that obey the boundary conditions, for a general scalar potent ial.
What about when one goes beyond mini superspace, and consi ders t he full degrees of
freedom of t he gravitat ional and matt er fields . One can get some idea, by study ing pertur­
bat ions about met ri cs of t he Friedmann form (14]. One expands t he metri c perturbations,
and t he matter fields , in terms of harmonics on the t hree sphere. One t hen cal culates t he
256 S. W. HAWKING

Wheeler D eWit t equation , to all orders in th e radius a, but to second order in the per­
turb at ions. Aft er suit able gauge fixing, and field redefinit ions, on e get s a set of decoupl ed
h armonic oscillators . The harmonic oscillator cotTeSponding to the radius, a, has negat ive
energy, but all th e other oscillators have posit ive energy. Thus on e again has a discret e
family of solut ions, that sat isfy th e boundary condit ions. It therefore s eems reasonabl e to
conject ure, that th ere will be a discret e spectrum of sol utions of th e full Wheel er D eWit t
equation, and not just th e mini superspac e version.
To swn up. On a simply connect ed manifold, one can facto ri ze th e path int egral
for the probability, into th e product of two wave functions. But on e can not do t h is on
a non simply connect ed manifold. Inst e ad , one has to cut th e manifold at a numb er of
surfaces, Si. For each quantum st at e on the Si, one can then factorize th e path int egral
into a product of w ave functions. Th e total probability for any obs ervable, can then b e
calculat ed, by summing over all quantum stat es on the surfac es , Si. This summat ion
int roduces an ext ra degree of uncertainty into physics, over and above th e uncert ainty
normally associat ed wi th quant um mechanics.
Evidence t hat non simply connect ed spac et imes, occur in quantum gravity, comes
from the quantum evaporation of. black holes. Th e most natural explanat ion is t hat th e
particles that fell into the bl ack hol e, and the anti part icles to th e em itted radiat ion, go off
into a wormhol e, t hat leads to anoth er region of the universe. If this is the case, on e wo uld
al so expect that much smaller, Pl anck scale, wormholes, should occur as virtual processes.
I claim that such mi croscopic virtual wormhol es, are b est describ ed by solutions of the
Wh eeler D eWit t equation, which ob ey cert ain boundary condit ions. It seems that th ere
should be a disc rete spectrum of. solut ions, for any reasonable form of matter cont ent . On
t he other hand , instantons, or solutions of the classical Euclid ean field equations, exist
only with cert ain kinds of matter. I illust rat ed this with a discussion of mini superspac e
solut ions, wi th a scal ar field. Another advantage of using solut ions of the Wh eel er D eWit t
equation, is that it enabl es one to calcul at e the effecti ve int eract ions, induced by t he
wormholes, i n a sim ple manner. I shall describ e this in my next lecture.
 WORMHOLES AND NON-SIMPLY CONNECTED MANIFOLDS 257

Le cture 2

In the last lecture, I showed that in quant um gravity, one would exp ect non ·simply
connected manifolds. One would get microscop ic wormholes, leading from our region
of spacetime, to other regions, or back t o th e same region at a different p oint . These
wormholes could b e describ ed by solut ions of th e Wheeler-D eWit t equat ion, that ob ey
certain boundary condi t ions . Planck scale virt ual wormholes are so s mall that they would
not appear t o b e black holes. Instead, they would look like effective p oint int eract ions, in
wh ich a certain numb er of part icles change int o different part icles . I shall now show how
one can calculat e the form of these effective int eract ions (15 . ]
This can b e done by calculat ing the product of the values of a quantum field, ¢, at
th e p oints, YI, y2, up to Yr, in one asymptot ic region. One takes the mat ri x element of this
p roduct between th e ordinary fiat vacuum stat e, IO), and the wormh ole stat e, l'iJ!). What
this means is, one does a path integral over all met rics and matter fields . The gravit at i onal
field is required to be asympt ot ically fiat at infinity, and to have a three sphere, S, with
induced metric, hi;, as its inner b oundary. The quantum field, ¢, is required to be zero at
infinity, and to have the value, <Po, on S. One then int egrates over all values of hi;, and
<Po, with the wave fun cti on, \J!(hi;, t/Jo ) .
Consi der firs t a level m harmonic oscillat or s olu tion, t o the mini·superspace m odel
wi th a conformally invariant scalar field. The int egral over the wave functi on, 'I!, of th e
wormhole, can then b e replaced by an integral over th e harmonic oscillat or wave functions,
in x = a¢ and a.

The path integral will then b e over asympt ot ically Euclidean met ri cs whose inner b oundary
is a three sphere, S, of radius, a, and scalar fields with the constant value, ¢, on S.
The saddle p oint for the path integral will be fiat Euclidean space outside a three
sphere of r adius , a, centered on a point , x0• The scalar field solution is</>= xa/ ( x - xo ) 2•
In t his approximati on, one ignores the energy momentum of the scalar field. The act ion
of th is saddle p oint will be I = t a2( 1 + ¢2 ) •.

The int egral over the ¢ field, will cont ain a factor of

This will be zero wh en m, the number of parti cles in the wormhole, is great er than r,

th e numb er of points, Yi, in the correlation funct ion. Th is is wh at one would exp ect ,
b ecaus e each part icl e in the wormhole, must b e created or dest royed, at a p oint , Yi, in th e
asymptoti cally fiat region. The integral over the radius, a, will b e dominated by radii of
order the Planck length . In fact by integrating over all a, one is overcount ing the metrics.
258 S. W. HAWKING

One is integrating not only over all geomet ries, but also over the position of the surface,
S, in t he wormhole. A correct ion should be made for this. However, in the approximat ion
that I'm making, this will just be a 4' independent factor, of order one. The mat rix element
will then be:
n
ll (xo
'
1
('11 l 4'( Y 1 ) 4'( Yn ) IO) = D _
Yi) 2
· · ·

where D is a factor of. order one.

One now has to integrate over the position, x0, of t he wormhole, with a mea.Sure of
the form, m!dx�. One also has to integrate over an orthogonal mat rix, 0, whi ch specifies
the ori ent at ion of the wormhole, with respect to the asymptot ically flat space.
The mi ni-superspace is invariant under 0, so this second integral will have no effe ct.
But the int egral over xo, will ensure that energy and moment um are conserved in t he
asymptoti cally flat region.
The mat rix element will be the same as if one was in flat space, with an effe ctive
interact ion of the form F ( m)q,m. Here, F ( m) is another coefficient of order one.
One can extend t his analysi s to perturbat ions about the mi ni-superspace model, in
which inhomogeneous modes of the gravit ational and matter fields are excited. In a similar
way, one can calculate the mat rix elements of products of 4' between the vacuum and a
wormhole cont aining given numbers of scalar· particles in higher n modes. These mat ri x
elements are again given by an effect ive interaction. The only diffe rence is that the effective
interaction involves derivatives of q,.
A. Lyons (16] h as calculat ed the effect ive interaction, for a wormhole containing
fermions. He finds interact ions of the form, .,pn, where .,P is the fe rmion field, and n is
the number of fermions in the wormhole, n > 2. F. Dowker (17] h as done a similar calcula­
tion for the ele ct ro-m agnetic case. She finds effective interact ions of the form, Fn . Again,
n > 2. From these results, one mi ght expect that wormholes cont ain ing gravitons, would
give effective. interactions of the form, curvature to the n. Th is has been confirmed by
calculat ions by Dowker and La flamme (18]. 0, or 1 term. This
Once again, there is no n =
means that wormholes do not directly change the effe ctive cosmological constant , A, or the
gravitat ional constant , G. They do, however change the cosmological and gravit at ional
constants indi re ctly, by loop diagrams involving other effe ct ive interactions. These will
have to be cut off on the scale of the wormhole. This will int roduce terms in the vol ume
of sp acetime, and the curvature scalar, R. The importance of these will be seen when I
discuss th e cosmological constant.
So far, we have been cons idering a single wormhole, joining onto an asymptotically
Euclidean region, at a point, x0• I showed that the effect on low energy Green funct ions
was the same as an effect ive interact ion, (Ji( xo ) . Here, (J is some funct ion of the quant um
fields, 4', and the index, i, labels the solution of the \Vheeler Dewi tt equation. The other
 WORMHOLES AND NON-SIMPLY CONNECTED MANIFOLDS 259

end of the wormhol e, will join on to the same, or a different asymptot ic region, at a point ,
Yo· Thus, the effect of a wormhole, b etween the points, x0, and y0, is equivalent to the
insert ion of

One now has to add up the effects of a numb er of wormholes joinin g on to the asymp-­
tot ic regions. On e makes the dilute wormhole approximation. That i s, one assumes that
the wormholes are far apart compared to th eir size. This may be just ified in the case of
large wormholes, of black hole size, but one would expect that it would break down for
wormholes of the Planck size which could b e packed t ight on top of each other. Nev­
ertheless, one might hop e that the qualitat ive features displayed by the dilute wormhole
app roximat ion might surv ive in a more accurate treat ment .
In the dilut e wormhole approximation, the effect of n wormholes, will b e given by
including a factor of

� �! (! j ./gWB; (x )J.9M8;(y )dx d1,)"

So, the effect of an arbitrary number of wormholes can b e obt ain ed by including a
factor of

One can regard th is exponent ial as a bi-local addit ion to the act ion. The bi-lo cal act ion is
� Ei J J Bi(x) Bi (y) .
The bi-local act ion can b e transformed into a s um of lo cal terms. An elegant way of
doing this has b een given by Klebanov, Susskind and Banks [19). One introduces posit ion
indep endent paramet ers, o, and uses the ident ity:

Th e path int egral b ecomes :

where

and
260 S. W. HAWKING

This can be interpreted as dividing the quantum state of the universe, into non­
interacting superselection sectors. Each sector is labelled by the parameters, a. In each
sector, the effective Lagrangian is the ordinary Lagrangian, L, plus an a dependent term,
a8. The different sectors are weighted by the probability distribution, P( a). Thus the
effective interactions don't have unique values. Rather, there is a spread of possible cou­
plings. However, if one measures the strength of one of these effe ctive interactions, one will
get some definite answer. This will collapse the probab ility distribution, to the co�spond­
ing value of the alpha parameter. Any further measurement of th at effecti ve interaction ,
will give the same s trength.
In effect, what one is doing is cutting the non-simply connected manifold at surfaces,
Si, which are cross-sections of each wormhole. This cutting will disconnect the spacetime
manifold into a number of asymptotic regions , with wormhole stum ps. For each quantum
state on the wormhole cross sections, Si, there will be a low energy effective field theory
in each asymp totic region. However, the total theory in the asymp totic regions will be
obtained by s umming over all the quantum states on the wormhole cross sections Si . Th is
summation over the quantum states on the cross sections, Si, means that there is an extra
degree of uncertainty, over and above that normally associated j ust with wave functions.
A measure of this extra uncertainty, is the entropy associated with the density matrix
defined by the cross sections, Si.
The quantum state on a single cross section can be labelled by the index, i, of the
solution of the Wheeler-D eWitt equat ion. Thus the total quantum state, on the collection
of all the cross sections, Si, can be described in terms of a Fock b asis, lni), where ni, is
the number of cross sections in the state, i . However, it is more convenient to express the
quantum state on the wormhole cross sections, in terms of coherent states, lai):

!
Here a , is the operator that creates one wormhole cross section in the state i. A coherent
state, lai}, of the wormhole cross sections, induces effective interactions, ai8i, of definite
strengths, in each asymptotic region. The integral over the a-parameters, wi th the weight,
P( a) , is equivalent to summing over all quantum states for the wormhole cross sections.
Note that these coherent states are different from the a-states th at Coleman used in h is
lectures. These latter states were eigenstates of the annihilation p lus creation operators,
a + at, whereas the coherent states, are eigenstates of just the annihilation operator, a.
Th e probability distribution for the physical coupling constants is the reflection, for
Planck scale wormholes, of the extra degree of tmcertainty associated with non-simply
connected manifolds. It means that, even if the underlying theory is superstrings, the
effective theory of quantum gravity will appear to be umenormalizable, with an infinite
 WORMHOLE S AND NON- SIMPLY CONNECTED MANIFOLD S 261

number of coupling constants. These constants cannot be predicted, but have to be fixed
by observation.
Coleman (20] , and others, however, have suggested that the prob abili ty distributions
for the coupling constants, are entirely concentrated at certain definite values, that could,
in principle, be calculated. The argument is b ased on my propos al, for explai ning the
vanishing of the cosmological constant, and goes as follows :
The probability dis tribution, P(a), for the a·parameters, should be multiplied by the
factor, Z(a). This is given by the path integral over all low energy fields, </>, with the
effe ctive interactions, a8.
The path integral for Z(a), does not converge because the Eins tein Hilbert action is
not bounded below. Ho wever, one might hope that an estimate for Z( a), could be obtained
from the saddle point in the path integral. That is, from solutions of the Euclidean field
equations. The saddle point wi th the lowest action, will be a sphere, with action

If one just took a single s phere, Z = exp ( -r ) . However, Coleman argues that there can
be many such spheres , connected by wormholes. This mal-es Z = exp ( exp ( -r )) . Both
the single and the double exponentials, blow up rapidly, as A approaches zero from above.
Th is means that the probability distribution will be concentrated entirely at those a for
wh ich A= 0.
Coleman's original suggestion for fixing the other effective couplings involved expand­
ing the effective action in a power series in the cosmological constant. However, a better
mechanism for fixing the effe ctive couplings, h as been suggested by P reski ll [21], and by
Grinstein and Wise (22]. The dominant term in r is -3/(8G2A). One might therefore
expect that the probability distribution, would be concentrated entirely at G = 0, as well
as at A= 0. However , we know that G(a) is not zero, because we observe gravi ty. So one
h as to suppose that there is some non-zero minimum value of G(a). One would expect that
the probabili ty distribution would be concentrated entirely at this minimum value. And
one would hope that the minimum, would o ccur at a s ingle value of the effective couplings.
However, there's a flaw in this argument. The probability me asure, P(a)Z(a), di·
verges very strongly on the surface in a·space , on which G2A = 0. This means that the
total measure of a-space is i nfinite. The total measure of the part of a·space for wh ich
G2A is greater than some 0 will be finite. This means that G 2A = 0 with probability
E >

one. Since we observe that G is not zero, one could deduce that A = 0.
However, with such a badly divergent probab ili ty measure, this is about the only
conclusion one could draw. To go further, and to try to argue, that the probability measure
is concentrated entirely at a certain point in a-space. one has to intro duce some cut off in
262 S. W. HAWKING

the prob abi lity measure. This cut off should be chosen, to make the total measure of o­

sp a.ce finite. In this case , and only in th is case, is it meaningful to compare the probabi lities
of different effe ctive couplings. One then takes the limit as the cut off is removed. The
troub le is, different ways of cutting off the probability meas ure, wi ll give different result s.
And it i s hard to see why one cut off procedure 1 should be prefered to anot �er.
One can cut off the prob ability measure , by introducing a function, F, on a-space,
which is zero on the surface, J(, on wh ich r diverges. One then cuts the region for which
F < E out of a-space. One would expect the probab ility measure on the rest of a-sp ace
to b e finite and therefore to give a well defined probability distribution, for the effective
coupling const ant s. If Z( a) is given by a double exponent ial, the probability distribution
will be highly concentrated near the minimum of r on the s urface F = E. Thus, in the
limit E � 0, the probability would be concentrated entirely at a single point of a-space.
But the point will depend on the choice of the funct ion, F, and di fferent choices will give
different results . Fo r example, Coleman's original procedure of exp anding r in powers of
A is equivalent to choosing F = A. On the other hand, Preskil l h as suggested using a cut
off on the volume of spacetime. This would b e equi valent to using, F = G2A2. But if you
minimize G2A for fixed G2A2, you would drive G to zero and A to a non-zero value. This
is not what one want s. One therefore has to suppose that G, is bounded away from zero on
the swfa.ce on which r diverges. There is no obvious reason why this should be the case,
even in the region of a-space in which the bi-local action is a reasonable approximation
for wormhol es .
It s , therefore, that one can get different results, by different methods of cutting
seem

off the di vergence in the probabil ity meas ure. There doesn't seem to be a uni que preferred
cut off. A possi ble candidate would be to use r itself to define the cut off. Thi s would
be like saying that there was a maximum pro bability density in a-sp ace. One could t ake
F = -�. This would lead to the probability distri bution for A, being concentrated ent irely
at A = 0. However, the other effective coupl ings would not be concentrated at single values.
Instead, they would be distributed with the gaussian probab ility dist ribution, P( a) .
The conclus ion, therefore, is that the formalism of Eudidean quant um gravity, does
not answer the question of whether wormholes introduce an extra degree of uncert ainty.
Or whether, as Coleman arglles, there is no uncertainty in the effe ct ive coupling constants.
The problem is that the probability meas ure on alpha sp ace, diverges. Th is in tum, is due
to the fa.ct that the Einstein Hilbert act ion is not bounded below. O ne can t ry to make
the path integral converge, by integrat ing the conformal fa.ctor over a complex contour.
But it is not clear that this will always work, and it is rather a fudge. In my opinion, one
can deal with this problem, only by going to a more fundament al th eory, su ch as string
theory. It seems that quantum field theory is mathematically wel l defined only when t he
fields are linear . Thi s is the case for quantum fields on the world s heet of the string. The
 WORMHO LES AND NON- SIMPLY CO N NECTED MANIFOLD S 263

non-l inearities of the physical theory, can b e thought of as arising from the topology of the
world sheet. In the remainder of tbis l ecture, I shall try to indi cate how string theory on a
multiply connected world sheet can look like a sum of theories on simply connected world
sheets , in curved space back grounds.
I shall now turn to a different kind of non-simply connected manifold, the world sheet
of the string. One can regard the world sheet as a two-sphere, with g handles, where g

is the genus. Again, one can cut each handl e with a surface, Si , to make the manifold
simply connected. O ne ca n then express st ri ng theory, as a sum over quantum theories
on a simply connected manifold, a sphere with punctures. I shall show that the punctures
can be treated like wormholes, and replaced by effective interactions. In the limit of high
genus, and small punctures , the only effective interactions that survive, are the massless
background fields, the gravitational field, the anti symmetric tensor field, and the dilaton.
Thus the effect of handles on the world sheet, is the same as having no handles, but
having the string move in a non trivial background geometry. There does not seem to be
any mechanism, like the spacetime cosmological constant, that might pick out a uni que
b ackground field. Instead, there would be some probabili ty distrib ution of background
fields. As the ori ginal s tring theory was conformally invariant, one wo uld expect that the
effe ctive theory would also be conformally invariant. This would mean that the background
fields would have to satisfy the zero beta function equations. They could be obtained as
stationary points of an action principle. One could take this action principle, as the basi s
of an effective theory of spacetime. Thus, starting from string theory in a flat background
space, the non- simply connected topology of the world sh eet, generates an effective theory,
which has simply connected world sheets, in curved backgrounds. One mi ght hope that
there was some boundary condition, like the no boundary condi tion, which determined the
quantum state, of th e effective theory of background fields.
The analogy between handles on the string world sheet, has been studied by A . Lyons
(23), using the known form of the Green function on a torus . I shall adopt a slightly
di fferent approach . I shall consider the bosonic string theory, wi th a flat background
metric, which I shall take to be Euclidean. This ensures that the underlying string action,
is posi tive defini te. So the probability measure should not diverge, l ike it does in general
relativity. The background anti- symmetric tensor field, and the dilaton field, will be taken
to be zero. I shall use the representation of a Riemann surface of genus g as the r egion of
the complex plane ou tside 2g circles. The circles are identified in pairs, by the projective
transformations:
(z' - Z1r ) (z - Z 1 r )
= qr
( z' - Z2r ) ( z - Z 2r )
The qr and the limit points, z 1 r and z2r , can be regarded as the modular parameters of the
Riemann surface. Three of them could be fixed by an overall proj ective transformation.
264 S. W. HAWKING

In order to calcul ate physical quanti ties, li ke scattering ampli tudes, one needs to know
the G reen functions. The Green functions will be given by a path integral over all sp acetime
coordinate fields, xlA , on the Riemann surface. That is, all fields on the fundamental re gion
of the complex plane, which have the same values at the points on the circles, that are
identified by the proj ective transformations. In other words, one can integrate over all
fields, xlA, on the fundamental region, wi th delta functions to make sure the fields agree
on the identified circles.

(x µ ( z1 )x,,(z2 ) . . .)

= j d [xµ]xµ (zi )x,,( z2 ) ... II II D(x(9) - x ( 81 ) ) e -1•

r 8

One can expand the field on each circle in terms of einB :

Then the delta function on the circles becomes a product of · delta functions in the coeffi­
cients anw For the n = 0 mode, one uses the Fourier transform of the del ta function. But
for the non- zero mo des, one wri tes t he delta function as a sum of products of harmoni c

oscillator wave functions, in each coefficient, an .

The idea is now to treat the circles like wormhole ends . Each wormhole has three
modular parameters , the limit points, z1 and z2 , and the parameter, q. The radius,
of r,

the circles is of order, lql lz 1 - z2 I · One wants to calculate the effect on Gree n functions i n
the fundamental region, of wormholes in certain states. A wormhole state can be described
by the momentu m , k , of the n = 0 delta function, and the levels , mn , of the harmonic
oscillator wave functions in the non- zero n modes. One can interpret the levels, mn , as
the number of particles in the mode n, that pass through the wormhole.
One starts wi th the dilute wormhole approximation. That is , one considers the case
where the wormholes are small and far apart. One can then neglect the interactions
between di fferent circles, to a first approximation, and treat each circle on i ts own. One
can then calculate the effect on Green functions in the fundamental re gion, of a circle in
a wormhole state labelled by the momentum, k, and the occupation numbers, mn , of the
non- zero n modes. As in the wormhole case, the effect is the same as of an interaction
term, located at the center of the circle. The effecth•e interaction is a product of factors
 WORMHOLES AND NON-SIMPLY CONNECTED MANIFOLD S 265

for each mode. The factor is 1, if the occupation number of that mode is zero. Otherwise,
it is made up of l nl derivatives of x'' raised to the power of the occupation number of the
mode. The derivatives are with respect to z, if n is negative and w ith respect to z, if n
i s posi tive. Each derivati ve is accompanied by a factor of r, the radius of the circle. This
ensures that the interaction term has the right dimension. The factor for the n = 0 mode,
is e i t .:i: .
4
The measure on the modular parameter space, contains a factor o f r - for each worm­
hole. Thus there's a factor of r -2, for each circle. In the limit of small r, that is, of small q ,
this wo llld lead to divergences i n the effecti ve intera.Ctions, for wormholes with zero occu­
pati on numbers, but j ust the eit . :i: factor. These effective interacti ons are similar to those
produced by a background tachyon field. In a supersymmetric theory, one would expect
that such effective intera.c tions would cancel out, when one sums over spin structures on
the world sh eet. T his is equivalent to making the GSO projection, which removes the
tachyon.
The only other effective interaction that survives in the small q limi t is one in whi ch the
first levels of the n = -1 and n = + 1 modes are excited. This gives an e ffective interaction
that contains 8x µ 8x,, eik . :i: . This is j us t what one would get from background dilaton,
gravi ton, and anti symmetri c tensor fields. One would expect that conformal invariance,
would ensure that the effective interactions would be zero, unless the background fields
satisfied the zero beta function equations. To first order, these imply k 2 = 0.
The j ustification for considering the small q limi t, is that the perturbation series in the
numb er of handles, does not converge, even when there is a non zero dilaton back ground
field. This was shown by Gross and Periwal [ 24) . It means that one might expect the
dominant contribution to come from surfaces of very high, or i nfini te genus . For such
surfaces, the modular para.m eters, q, would have to be very small. One can now calculate
the corrections to the dilute wormhole approxim ation, coming from interactions between
the circles. It t urns out that for non-tachyon wormholes, the corrections go to zero, in the
small q limi t. Thus the dilute wormhole approximation holds, in the small q limi t. This
means that one can add up the e ffects of many wormholes, as the exponenti al of the effect of
a single wormhole. One thus gets a bi-local addi tion to the action, as in the spacetime case.
One can then trans form the bi -local action, to a local effecti ve action, by introduci ng an
integral over alpha par ameters. Thus string theory for multiply connected world sheets, is
equivalent to a sum of simply connected world sheets in different background fields. There
will b e a probabili ty di stribution on these background fields. One might speculate that i t
would come from the same effe ctive action, as gave the zero beta function equations. In
that case, the whole of the universe that we observe, could just be an effective theory to
describe conformal field theory, on multiply connected Rie mann surfaces.
To sum up . Quantum theory on a non-simply connected manifol d, is e quivalent to a
266 S. W. HAWKING

sum of quantum t heories, on simply connected mani folds. In the case of multiply connected
spacetime mani folds, this leads to the idea that coupling constants, like the charge on
an elect ron, might not be quantities whose value was fixed. Instead, they would have
a probability distribution . There is a mechanism that can concentrate the p robability
distribution of one qu antity, the cosmological constant, precisely at zero. However, it is
not clear whether t he same mechanism, concentrates the probability distributions of other
coupling constant s, in a similar way.
In the case of the string world sheet , the effect of handles is the same as that of
background fields . There does not seem to be any mechanism, like t he cosmological con­
stant , that would pi ck out a unique background field. Instead there woul d be a p robability
distribution. This could lead to Euclidean general relativity, appearing as an effe ctive t he­
o ry. The fact t hat the Einstein H ilbert action, was not bounded below, would not cause
p robl ems, because general relativity would be only an effective theory. But the question
of whether observed physical constants, have precise values, or a probability distribution,
could be answered only by going to the underlyi ng fundamental t heory. I would put t he
chances as 50:50.
 WORMHOLES AND NON-SIMPLY CONNECTED MANIFOLD S 267

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