The Semiclassical Approximation to Quantum Gravity

A detailed review is given of the semiclassical approximation to quantum gravity in the canonical framework. This includes in particular the derivation of the functional Schrödinger equation and a discussion of semiclassical time as well as the derivation of quantum gravitational correction terms to the Schrödinger equation. These terms are used to calculate energy shifts for fields in De Sitter space and non-unitary contributions in black hole evaporation. Emphasis is also put on the relevance of decoherence and correlations in semiclassical gravity. The back reaction of non-gravitational quantum fields onto the semiclassical background and the emergence of a Berry connection on superspace is also discussed in this framework.