  A new approach to quantum gravity is presented based on a nonlinear
quantization scheme for canonical field theories with an implicitly defined
Hamiltonian. The constant mean curvature foliation is employed to eliminate the
momentum constraints in canonical general relativity. It is, however, argued
that the Hamiltonian constraint may be advantageously retained in the reduced
classical system to be quantized. This permits the Hamiltonian constraint
equation to be consistently turned into an expectation value equation on
quantization that describes the scale factor on each spatial hypersurface
characterized by a constant mean exterior curvature. This expectation value
equation augments the dynamical quantum evolution of the unconstrained
conformal three-geometry with a transverse traceless momentum tensor density.
The resulting quantum theory is inherently nonlinear. Nonetheless, it is
unitary and free from a nonlocal and implicit description of the Hamiltonian
operator. Finally, by imposing additional homogeneity symmetries, a broad class
of Bianchi cosmological models are analyzed as nonlinear quantum
minisuperspaces in the context of the proposed theory.
