- New
-
Topics
- All Categories
- Metaphysics and Epistemology
- Value Theory
- Science, Logic, and Mathematics
- Science, Logic, and Mathematics
- Logic and Philosophy of Logic
- Philosophy of Biology
- Philosophy of Cognitive Science
- Philosophy of Computing and Information
- Philosophy of Mathematics
- Philosophy of Physical Science
- Philosophy of Social Science
- Philosophy of Probability
- General Philosophy of Science
- Philosophy of Science, Misc
- History of Western Philosophy
- Philosophical Traditions
- Philosophy, Misc
- Other Academic Areas
- Journals
- Submit material
- More
Quantum Gravity
Edited by Baptiste Le Bihan (University of Geneva)
Assistant editor: Enrico Cinti (University of Geneva)
About this topic
| Summary | Quantum gravity refers to the set of approaches in theoretical physics seeking to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics. Its philosophical implications can be grouped into three subfields. First, the methodology of Quantum Gravity. It explores the frameworks and approaches employed in formulating a coherent theory of quantum gravity. It involves assessing the mathematical models, experimental designs, and theoretical assumptions that guide research in this domain. Second, the epistemology of Quantum Gravity: it addresses questions about the limits of what can be known, the role of observation and measurement in theory confirmation, and the implications of quantum gravity for our understanding of reality. Challenges include dealing with the lack of empirical data and the speculative nature of some theoretical models. Third, the metaphysics of Quantum Gravity: it investigates the metaphysical implications of quantum gravity theories, particularly in light of the possible non-fundamentality of spacetime. |
Show all references
Related
Siblings
- Quantum Chemistry (90)
- Quantum Chromodynamics (15)
- Quantum Computation (169)
- Quantum Electrodynamics (176)
- Quantum Field Theory (300)
- Quantum Information (274)
- Quantum Logic (510)
- Quantum Statistical Mechanics (56)
- Quantum Theories, Misc (132)
Contents
348 found
Order:
| 1 — 50 / 348 |
- Time Remains.Sean Gryb & Karim P. Y. Thébault - 2016 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 67 (3):663-705.On one popular view, the general covariance of gravity implies that change is relational in a strong sense, such that all it is for a physical degree of freedom to change is for it to vary with regard to a second physical degree of freedom. At a quantum level, this view of change as relative variation leads to a fundamentally timeless formalism for quantum gravity. Here, we will show how one may avoid this acute ‘problem of time’. Under our view, (...)
- (1 other version)Physics meets philosophy at the planck scale.Craig Callender & Nicholas Huggett - manuscriptThis is the table of contents and first chapter of Physics Meets Philosophy at the Planck Scale (Cambridge University Press, 2001), edited by Craig Callender and Nick Huggett. The chapter discusses the question of why there should be a theory of quantum gravity. We tackle arguments that purport to show that the gravitational field *must* be quantized. We then introduce various programs in quantum gravity and discuss areas where quantum gravity and philosophy seem to have something to say to each (...)
- Quantum Gravity: Time is the Red Herring and Classical Mathematics is the Elephant in the Room.D. A. Ford - manuscriptRemove from this listExport citation
Bookmark - A-Theory, Gedankenexperiments, and Quantum Gravity.Paul Merriam & M. A. Z. Habeeb - manuscriptThis paper proposes a novel theoretical framework for reconciling quantum mechanics with relativity that leads to a theory of quantum gravity by examining the fundamental nature of time. In the first section we argue that it is possible to perform an experiment for oneself in which, with enough ‘internal technology’ it is possible to distinguish between one’s experience of time on the one hand, and one’s thoughts about one’s experience of time on the other hand. The former gives McTaggart's A-series (...)
- Russell's 1927 The Analysis of Matter as the First Book on Quantum Gravity.Said Mikki - manuscriptThe goal of this note is to bring into wider attention the often neglected important work by Bertrand Russell on the foundations of physics published in the late 1920s. In particular, we emphasize how the book The Analysis of Matter can be considered the earliest systematic attempt to unify the modern quantum theory, just emerging by that time, with general relativity. More importantly, it is argued that the idea of what I call Russell space, introduced in Part III of that (...)
- Épistemologie de la gravité quantique canonique - Gravité quantique à boucles.Sfetcu Nicolae - manuscriptDans l'interprétation de la gravité quantique canonique, la gravité apparaît comme une pseudoforce géométrique, elle est réduite à la géométrie espace-temps et devient un simple effet de la courbure de l'espace-temps . Le formalisme canonique ne confirme pas cette interprétation. La relativité générale associe la gravité à l'espace-temps, mais le type d'association n'est pas fixé. La gravité quantique à boucles tente d'unifier la gravité avec les trois autres forces fondamentales en commençant par la relativité et en ajoutant des traits quantiques. (...)
- Épistémologie de la gravité quantique.Sfetcu Nicolae - manuscriptLa gravité quantique a nécessité la prise en compte des questions épistémologiques fondamentales, qui peuvent être identifiées en philosophie avec le problème corps-esprit et le problème du libre arbitre . Ces questions ont influencé l'épistémologie de la mécanique quantique sous la forme du « parallélisme psycho-physique » de von Neumann et l'analyse ultérieure de la thèse de Wigner selon laquelle « l'effondrement du paquet d'ondes » se produit dans l'esprit de « l'observateur ». La gravité quantique en cosmologie pose le (...)
- Approches de l'interprétation de la gravité quantique.Sfetcu Nicolae - manuscriptL'interprétation de Copenhague peut être comprise non seulement comme une interprétation statistique minimale du formalisme quantique pour la fréquence des résultats de mesure, mais aussi comme mettant l'accent sur un domaine classique du système quantique, avec une séparation ferme de celui-ci et une description quantique de la première interprétation. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28288.87049.
- Quantum mechanics foundations.Bakytzhan Oralbekov - manuscriptGravity remains the most elusive field. Its relationship with the electromagnetic field is poorly understood. Relativity and quantum mechanics describe the aforementioned fields, respectively. Bosons and fermions are often credited with responsibility for the interactions of force and matter. It is shown here that fermions factually determine the gravitational structure of the universe, while bosons are responsible for the three established and described forces. Underlying the relationships of the gravitational and electromagnetic fields is a symmetrical probability distribution of fermions and (...)
- Epistemology of Experimental Gravity - Scientific Rationality.Nicolae Sfetcu - manuscriptThe evolution of gravitational tests from an epistemological perspective framed in the concept of rational reconstruction of Imre Lakatos, based on his methodology of research programmes. Unlike other works on the same subject, the evaluated period is very extensive, starting with Newton's natural philosophy and up to the quantum gravity theories of today. In order to explain in a more rational way the complex evolution of the gravity concept of the last century, I propose a natural extension of the methodology (...)
- Epistemology of Canonical Quantum Gravity - Loop Quantum Gravity.Nicolae Sfetcu - manuscriptIn the interpretation of canonical quantum gravity (CQG), gravity appears as a geometric pseudoforce, is reduced to spacetime geometry and becomes a simple effect of spacetime curvature. The scale at which quantum gravitational effects occur is determined by the different physical constants of fundamental physics: h, c and G, which characterize quantum, relativistic and gravitational phenomena. By combining these constants, we obtain the Planck constants at which the effects of quantum gravity must manifest. Loop quantum gravity attempts to unify gravity (...)
- Epistemologia gravitației cuantice canonice – Gravitația cuantică în bucle.Nicolae Sfetcu - manuscriptÎn interpretarea gravitației cuantice canonice, gravitația apare ca o pseudoforță geometrică, este redusă la geometria spațio-temporală și devine un simplu efect al curburii spațiu-timpului. Relativitatea generală asociază gravitația cu spațiu-timpul, dar tipul de asociere nu este fixat. În locul interpretării geometrice se poate folosi interpretarea câmpului (geometria spațiu-timp este redusă la un câmp gravitațional, respectiv metrica, considerată drept "doar un alt câmp") sau interpretarea egalitară (o identificare conceptuală a gravitației și spațiu-timpului în relativitatea generală. ). Aceste interpretări alternative reduc diferențele (...)
- Heuristics and Tests of Quantum Gravity.Nicolae Sfetcu - manuscriptFor the attempt to create a gravitational quantum theory, there are several research programs, some of which became obsolete over time due to the higher heuristic power of other programs. The primordial test of any quantum theory of gravity is the reproduction of the successes of general relativity. This involves reconstructing the local geometry from the non-local observables. In addition, quantum gravity should probabilistically predict the large-scale topology of the Universe, which may soon be measurable, and phenomena at the Planck (...)
- Epistemologia gravitației cuantice.Nicolae Sfetcu - manuscriptDin punct de vedere metodologic, atât Newton cât și Einstein, și ulterior Dirac, au susținut fără rezerve principiul simplității matematice în descoperirea noilor legi fizice ale naturii. Lor li s-au alăturat și Poincaré și Weyl. Eduard Prugovecki afirmă că gravitația cuantică a impus luarea în considerare a unor întrebări epistemologice fundamentale, care pot fi identificate în filosofie cu problema minții-corp și cu problema liberului arbitru. Aceste întrebări au influențat epistemologia mecanicii cuantice sub forma "paralelismului psiho-fizic" al lui von Neumann și (...)
- Gravitația cuantică – Euristica și teste gravitaționale.Nicolae Sfetcu - manuscriptÎn încercarea de dezvoltare a unei teorii solide a gravitației cuantice, au existat mai multe programe de cercetare, dintre care unele au căzut în timp în desuetitudine datorită puterii euristice mai mari a altor programe. Testul primordial al oricărei teorii cuantice a gravitației este reproducerea succeselor relativității generale. Aceasta implică reconstrucția geometriei locale din observabilele nelocale. În plus, gravitația cuantică ar trebui să prezică probabilistic topologia la scară largă a Universului, care în curând poate fi măsurabilă, și fenomene la scala (...)
- Epistemology of String Theory in Quantum Gravity.Nicolae Sfetcu - manuscriptIn quantum field theory, the main obstacle is the occurrence of the untreatable infinities in the interactions of the particles due to the possibility of arbitrary distances between the point particles. Strings, as extended objects, provide a better framework, which allows finite calculations. String theory is part of a research program in which point particles in particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. It describes how these strings propagate through space and interact with one another. The purpose of (...)
- Extensions of quantum gravity theories - Final theory and cosmology.Nicolae Sfetcu - manuscriptThe fields of application of general relativity (GR) and quantum field theory (QFT) are different, so most situations require the use of only one of the two theories. The overlaps occur in regions of extremely small size and high mass, such as the black hole or the early universe (immediately after the Big Bang). This conflict is supposed to be solved only by unifying gravity with the other three interactions, to integrate GR and QFT into one theory. At the cosmological (...)
- Epistemology of Quantum Gravity.Nicolae Sfetcu - manuscriptQuantum gravity has required the consideration of fundamental epistemological questions, which can be identified in philosophy with the mind-body problem and the problem of free will. These questions influenced the epistemology of quantum mechanics in the form of von Neumann's "psycho-physical parallelism" and the subsequent analysis of the thesis by Wigner that "the collapse of the wave packet" occurs in the mind of the "observer". Quantum gravity in cosmology involves the problem of the experimenter's freedom to change local physical conditions, (...)
- Quantum Gravity in a Laboratory?Nick Huggett, Niels S. Linnemann & Mike D. Schneider - 2023It has long been thought that observing distinctive traces of quantum gravity in a laboratory setting is effectively impossible, since gravity is so much weaker than all the other familiar forces in particle physics. But the quantum gravity phenomenology community today seeks to do the (effectively) impossible, using a challenging novel class of `tabletop' Gravitationally Induced Entanglement (GIE) experiments, surveyed here. The hypothesized outcomes of the GIE experiments are claimed by some (but disputed by others) to provide a `witness' of (...)
- Out of Nowhere: Spacetime from causality: causal set theory.Christian Wüthrich & Nick Huggett - 2023This is a chapter of the planned monograph "Out of Nowhere: The Emergence of Spacetime in Quantum Theories of Gravity", co-authored by Nick Huggett and Christian Wüthrich and under contract with Oxford University Press. (More information at www<dot>beyondspacetime<dot>net.) This chapter introduces causal set theory and identifies and articulates a 'problem of space' in this theory.
- Out of Nowhere: Introduction: the emergence of spacetime.Nick Huggett & Christian Wuthrich - 2021This is a chapter of the planned monograph "Out of Nowhere: The Emergence of Spacetime in Quantum Theories of Gravity", co-authored by Nick Huggett and Christian Wüthrich and under contract with Oxford University Press. (More information at www<dot>beyondspacetime<dot>net.) This chapter introduces the problem of emergence of spacetime in quantum gravity. It introduces the main philosophical challenge to spacetime emergence and sketches our preferred solution to it.
- Out of Nowhere: The emergence of spacetime from causal sets.Christian Wüthrich & Nick Huggett - 2020This is a chapter of the planned monograph "Out of Nowhere: The Emergence of Spacetime in Quantum Theories of Gravity", co-authored by Nick Huggett and Christian Wüthrich and under contract with Oxford University Press. (More information at www<dot>beyondspacetime<dot>net.) This chapter sketches how spacetime emerges in causal set theory and demonstrates how this question is deeply entangled with genuinely philosophical concerns.
- What Can We Learn from Stringy Black Holes?Nick Huggett - 2018This paper aims to address conceptual issues concerning black holes in the context of string theory, with the aim of illuminating the ontological unification of gravity and matter, and the interpretation of cosmological models. §1 describes the central concepts of the theory: the fungibility of matter and geometry, and the reduction of gravity and supergravity. The ‘standard’ interpretation presented draws on that implicit in the thinking of many (but not all) string theorists, though made more explicit and systematic than usual. (...)
- A Philosopher Looks at Non-Commutative Geometry.Nick Huggett - 2018This paper introduces some basic ideas and formalism of physics in non-commutative geometry. My goals are three-fold: first to introduce the basic formal and conceptual ideas of non-commutative geometry, and second to raise and address some philosophical questions about it. Third, more generally to illuminate the point that deriving spacetime from a more fundamental theory requires discovering new modes of `physically salient' derivation.
- Pre-socratic quantum gravity.Gordon Belot & John Earman - unknown - In Craig Callender & Nicholas Huggett, Physics meets philosophy at the planck scale. pp. 213--55.Physicists who work on canonical quantum gravity will sometimes remark that the general covariance of general relativity is responsible for many of the thorniest technical and conceptual problems in their field.1 In particular, it is sometimes alleged that one can trace to this single source a variety of deep puzzles about the nature of time in quantum gravity, deep disagreements surrounding the notion of ‘observable’ in classical and quantum gravity, and deep questions about the nature of the existence of spacetime (...)
- Quantum spacetime: What do we know?Carlo Rovelli - unknown - In Craig Callender & Nicholas Huggett, Physics meets philosophy at the planck scale. pp. 101--22.This is a contribution to a book on quantum gravity and philosophy. I discuss nature and origin of the problem of quantum gravity. I examine the knowledge that may guide us in addressing this problem, and the reliability of such knowledge. In particular, I discuss the subtle modification of the notions of space and time engendered by general relativity, and how these might merge into quantum theory. I also present some reflections on methodological questions, and on some general issues in (...)
- The Time in Thermal Time.Eugene Y. S. Chua - forthcoming - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie:1-24.Preparing general relativity for quantization in the Hamiltonian approach leads to the `problem of time,' rendering the world fundamentally timeless. One proposed solution is the `thermal time hypothesis,' which defines time in terms of states representing systems in thermal equilibrium. On this view, time is supposed to emerge thermodynamically even in a fundamentally timeless context. Here, I develop the worry that the thermal time hypothesis requires dynamics -- and hence time -- to get off the ground, thereby running into worries (...)
- Open Systems: Physics, Metaphysics, and Methodology (2025: Oxford University Press).Michael E. Cuffaro & Stephan Hartmann (eds.) - forthcoming - Oxford: Oxford University Press.This book consists in seventeen chapters devoted to physical, metaphysical, and methodological questions concerning open systems. The chapters in the volume address questions such as: Are (theories of) open systems more fundamental than (theories of) closed systems? How have concepts of open and closed systems have been used throughout the history of physics, and how should we understand their use in contemporary physical theories? Must the universe be a closed system? Must there be a such thing as the universe at (...)
- Not the Measurement Problem's Problem: Black Hole Information Loss with Schrödinger's Cat.Saakshi Dulani - forthcoming - Philosophy of Science.Recently, several philosophers and physicists have increasingly noticed the hegemony of unitarity in the black hole information loss discourse and are challenging its legitimacy in the face of the measurement problem. They proclaim that embracing non-unitarity solves two paradoxes for the price of one. Though I share their distaste over the philosophical bias, I disagree with their strategy of still privileging certain interpretations of quantum theory. I argue that information-restoring solutions can be interpretation-neutral because the manifestation of non-unitarity in Hawking's (...)
- Does Quantum Gravity Happen at the Planck Scale?Caspar Jacobs - forthcoming - Philosophy of Physics.The claim that at the so-called Planck scale our current physics breaks down and a new theory of quantum gravity is required is ubiquitous, but the evidence is shakier than the confidence of those assertions warrants. In this paper, I survey five arguments in favour of this claim - based on dimensional analysis, quantum black holes, generalised uncertainty principles, the nonrenormalisability of quantum gravity, and theories beyond the standard model - but find that none of them succeeds. The argument from (...)
- Holistic Versus Fragmented Multiverses: Empirical Access via Causal and Grounding Signatures.Baptiste Le Bihan - forthcoming - In Daniel Rubio & Klaas J. Kraay, The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy and the Multiverse. Blackwell.Can multiverse hypotheses ever receive empirical support? Critics argue that multiverse scenarios posit unobservable entities, face severe underdetermination, or fall outside the bounds of science. This chapter challenges that view by offering a naturalistic metaphysical counterpoint to Bayesian approaches, distinguishing fragmented from holistic multiverses. Scientific proposals are almost always holistic: they embed universes within a unifying physical or metaphysical structure that can, in principle, leave empirical signatures inside the universes. I develop a typology of such signatures and show how it (...)
- What Can Spacetime Emergence Teach Us About Consciousness?Baptiste Le Bihan - forthcoming - Journal of Consciousness Studies.Schneider and Bailey’s Superpsychism advances the Prototime Interpretation of quantum mechanics, on which entanglement unfolds in a non-spatiotemporal arena. By locating maximal consciousness at this fundamental level, they aim to gain leverage over both physicalism and cosmopsychism. I argue, however, that the view encounters two issues. First, if the fundamental level is non-spatiotemporal, our conception of the physical becomes unstable. At best one could redescribe what remains as a thin negative gap, but even that residual puzzle carries little dialectical force, (...)
- Causal Set Theory is (Strongly) Causal.Sam Baron & Baptiste Le Bihan - 2025 - Foundations of Physics 55 (63):1-35.Causal Set Theory (CST) is a promising approach to fundamental physics that seems to treat causation as a basic posit. But in exactly what sense is CST causal? We argue that if the growth dynamics is interpreted as a physical process, then CST employs relations of actual causation between causal set elements, whereby elements bring one another into existence. This is important, as it provides a better sense of how CST works, highlights important differences from general relativity---where relations between spacetime (...)
- Not quite killing it: black hole evaporation, global energy, and de-idealization.Eugene Y. S. Chua - 2025 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 15 (1):1-45.A family of arguments for black hole evaporation relies on conservation laws, defined through symmetries represented by Killing vector fields which exist globally or asymptotically. However, these symmetries often rely on the idealizations of stationarity and asymptotic flatness, respectively. In non-stationary or non-asymptotically-flat spacetimes where realistic black holes evaporate, the requisite Killing fields typically do not exist. Can we ‘de-idealize’ these idealizations, and subsequently the associated arguments for black hole evaporation? Here, I critically examine the strategy of using ‘approximately Killing’ (...)
- Spacetime Composition, Intuition and Familiarity.Yazan Freij - 2025 - Cosmos and History 21 (2):318-328.Recent approaches to quantum gravity suggest that spacetime is not a fundamental entity but rather emerges from a non-spatiotemporal structure. To conceptualise how spacetime might emerge, it has been suggested that we should think of spacetime as being mereologically composed of spacetime regions which are in turn composed of non- spatiotemporal parts. However, Baron (2021) has argued that even if spacetime composition can be shown to be coherent, it would still be different from how we ordinarily conceive the mereology of (...)
- Spacetime from Entanglement: The Emergence of Metric, Gravity, or Topology.Rasmus Jaksland - 2025 - Philosophy of Physics 3 (1):1-25.In the anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence, one often finds claims along the lines that “spacetime emerges from entanglement.” This paper argues that behind these general statements hide three distinct emergence claims about, respectively, metric, gravitational dynamics, and topological connectivity. Thus, despite being advertised with the same terminology, these results are not about the same spatiotemporal aspects. They can therefore not just be grouped as evidence for one unanimous conclusion, though they do point in similar directions. The paper also investigates (...)
- Gravitational Unification: A Theory of Cosmic Evolution Based on Energy Quantum Density Gradients.Li Kaisheng & Li Longji - 2025 - Independently published (via Amazon KDP).This book presents a foundational ontological reconstruction of gravity within the Energy Quantum Theory (EQT), proposing that spacetime is not a physical background but an emergent process arising from the low-frequency segment (\(f < 10^3\,\text{Hz}\)) of the energy quantum density field \(\rho(\mathbf{r}, t, f)\)—time corresponds to \(\partial_t \rho\), and space to \(\nabla \rho\). Gravity is thereby reinterpreted not as the curvature of a geometric manifold, but as a statistical gradient effect of low-frequency energons, fully abandoning the metric ontology of general (...)
- Fully self-consistent semiclassical gravity.Ricardo Muciño, Elias Okon, Daniel Sudarsky & Martín Wiedemann - 2025 - Physical Review D 112 (6):064084.A theory of quantum gravity consists of a gravitational framework, which, unlike general relativity, takes into account the quantum character of matter. In spite of impressive advances, no fully satisfactory, selfconsistent, and empirically viable theory with those characteristics has ever been constructed. A successfulsemiclassical gravity model, in which the classical Einstein tensor couples to the expectation value of the energy-momentum tensor of quantum matter fields, would, at the very least, constitute a useful stepping stone toward quantum gravity. However, not only (...)
- Physics and Reality: International Conference on Philosophy of Physics 4.-6.6.2024 Helsinki, Finland.Avril Styrman, Paavo Pylkkänen & Saara Wuokko (eds.) - 2025 - Bristol, UK: IOP Publishing.These are the proceedings of Physics and Reality 2024, International Conference on Philosophy of Physics, held at University of Helsinki, Finland, 4-6 June 2024. -/- The conference was organised by the research project Appearance and Reality in Physics and Beyond that started in June 2023. The project is located in the Department of Philosophy, History and Art Studies, University of Helsinki. -/- The conference explored central themes in philosophy of physics, including interpretations of quantum theory, geometric vs. dynamic approaches to (...)
- Non-spatial matters: On the possibility of non-spatial material objects.Cruz Austin Davis - 2024 - Synthese 204 (2):1-29.While there is considerable disagreement on the precise nature of material objecthood, it is standardly assumed that material objects must be spatial. In this paper, I provide two arguments against this assumption. The first argument is made from largely a priori considerations about modal plenitude. The possibility of non-spatial material objects follows from commitment to certain plausible principles governing material objecthood and plausible principles regarding modal plenitude. The second argument draws from current philosophical discussions regarding theories of quantum gravity and (...)
- Metaphysics of Quantum Gravity.Baptiste Le Bihan, and & Annica Vieser - 2024 - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.The metaphysics of quantum gravity explores metaphysical issues related to research programs in theoretical physics clustered under the term quantum gravity. These research programs aim at the formulation of a theory that reconciles the theory of general relativity with quantum theory. The goal is not necessarily to come up with a unified single theory but, more pragmatically, to describe phenomena with a dual nature, embodying both quantum and relativistic features—such as black holes and the early universe. Approaches to quantum gravity (...)
- The Non-Fundamentality of Spacetime. General Relativity, Quantum Gravity, and Metaphysics.Kian Salimkhani - 2024 - New York/London: Routledge.This book argues that our current best theories of fundamental physics are best interpreted as positing spacetime as non-fundamental. It is written in accessible language and largely avoids mathematical technicalities by instead focusing on the key metaphysical and foundational lessons for the fundamentality of spacetime. -/- According to orthodoxy, spacetime and spatiotemporal properties are regarded as fundamental structures of our world. Spacetime fundamentalism, however, faces challenges from speculative theories of quantum gravity – roughly speaking, the project of applying the lessons (...)
- Causal Theories of Spacetime.Sam Baron & Baptiste Le Bihan - 2023 - Noûs 58 (1):202-224.We develop a new version of the causal theory of spacetime. Whereas traditional versions of the theory seek to identify spatiotemporal relations with causal relations, the version we develop takes causal relations to be the grounds for spatiotemporal relations. Causation is thus distinct from, and more basic than, spacetime. We argue that this non-identity theory, suitably developed, avoids the challenges facing the traditional identity theory.
- The many problems of spacetime emergence in quantum gravity.Rasmus Jaksland & Kian Salimkhani - 2023 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.In this paper, we argue that what is often discussed under the umbrella of `spacetime emergence' in the philosophy of quantum gravity in fact consists of a plethora of distinct and even highly different problems. We therefore advocate to cast such debates more specifically in terms of the emergent spatiotemporal aspects, as is already done in the physics literature. We first show how ambiguous the notion of spacetime is already in general relativity. We then argue against three ways to reject (...)
- On Efforts to Decouple Early Universe Cosmology and Quantum Gravity Phenomenology.Mike D. Schneider - 2023 - Foundations of Physics 53 (4):1-15.The Big Bang singularity in standard model cosmology suggests a program of study in ‘early universe’ quantum gravity phenomenology. Inflation is usually thought to undermine this program’s prospects by means of a dynamical diluting argument, but such a view has recently been disputed within inflationary cosmology, in the form of a ‘trans-Planckian censorship’ conjecture. Meanwhile, trans-Planckian censorship has been used outside of inflationary cosmology to motivate alternative early universe scenarios that are tightly linked to ongoing theorizing in quantum gravity. Against (...)
- Problems with String Theory in Quantum Gravity.Nicolae Sfetcu - 2023 - Cunoașterea Științifică 2 (4):3-8.String theory, a framework that aims to reconcile general relativity and quantum mechanics, holds a unique position in the field of quantum gravity. In quantum field theory, the main obstacle is the occurrence of the untreatable infinities in the interactions of the particles due to the possibility of arbitrary distances between the point particles. Strings, as extended objects, provide a better framework, which allows finite calculations. In the realm of theoretical physics, where theories often push the boundaries of human understanding, (...)
- New Quantum Spin Perspective of Quantum Gravity and Space-Time of Mind-Stuff.Rakshit Vyas & Mihir Joshi - 2023 - Journal of Applied Consciousness Studies 11 (2):112-19.The fundamental building block of the loop quantum gravity (LQG) is the spin network which is used to quantize the physical space-time in the LQG. Recently, the novel quantum spin is proposed using the basic concepts of the spin network. This perspective redefines the notion of the quantum spin and also introduces the novel definition of the reduced Planck constant. The implication of this perspective is not only limited to the quantum gravity; but also found in the quantum mechanics. Using (...)
- Tabletop Experiments for Quantum Gravity Are Also Tests of the Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics.Emily Adlam - 2022 - Foundations of Physics 52 (5):1-43.Recently there has been a great deal of interest in tabletop experiments intended to exhibit the quantum nature of gravity by demonstrating that it can induce entanglement. In order to evaluate these experiments, we must determine if there is any interesting class of possibilities that will be convincingly ruled out if it turns out that gravity can indeed induce entanglement. In particular, since one argument for the significance of these experiments rests on the claim that they demonstrate the existence of (...)
- Gravitational decoherence: A thematic overview.C. Anastopoulos & B. L. Hu - 2022 - AVS Quantum Science 4:015602.Gravitational decoherence (GD) refers to the effects of gravity in actuating the classical appearance of a quantum system. Because the underlying processes involve issues in general relativity (GR), quantum field theory (QFT), and quantum information, GD has fundamental theoretical significance. There is a great variety of GD models, many of them involving physics that diverge from GR and/or QFT. This overview has two specific goals along with one central theme:(i) present theories of GD based on GR and QFT and explore (...)
- Composing Spacetime.Sam Baron & Baptiste Le Bihan - 2022 - Journal of Philosophy 119 (1):33-54.According to a number of approaches in theoretical physics, spacetime does not exist fundamentally. Rather, spacetime exists by depending on another, more fundamental, non-spatiotemporal structure. A prevalent opinion in the literature is that this dependence should not be analyzed in terms of composition. We should not say, that is, that spacetime depends on an ontology of non-spatiotemporal entities in virtue of having them as parts. But is that really right? On the contrary, we argue that a mereological approach to dependent (...)
| 1 — 50 / 348 |
PhilPapers logo by Andrea Andrews and Meghan Driscoll.
This site uses cookies and Google Analytics (see our terms & conditions for details regarding the privacy implications). Use of this site is subject to terms & conditions.
All rights reserved by The PhilPapers Foundation
Server: philpapers-web-588fc6fdc7-pcxsw uwo