The many problems of spacetime emergence in quantum gravity
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The many problems of spacetime emergence in quantum gravity. / Jaksland, Rasmus; Salimkhani, Kian.
In: The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 2024.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The many problems of spacetime emergence in quantum gravity
AU - Jaksland, Rasmus
AU - Salimkhani, Kian
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - In this article, we argue that what is often discussed under the umbrella of ‘spacetimeemergence’ in the philosophy of quantum gravity in fact consists of a plethora of distinctand even highly different problems. We therefore advocate to cast such debates morespecifically in terms of the emergent spatiotemporal aspects, as is already done in thephysics literature. We first show how ambiguous the notion of spacetime is already ingeneral relativity. We then argue against three ways to reject our call for specificity:the many distinct philosophical problems relating to the emergence of the various spa-tiotemporal aspects do not suggest any singular, overarching, or exceptional problem ofspacetime emergence. We also discuss how the objections are reflected by five concep-tions of spacetime. Next, we observe that different spatiotemporal aspects are emergentin the different quantum gravity approaches, whereby investigating emergence in quan-tum gravity collectively is problematic. Finally, we illustrate how philosophical inquiriesthat employ notions of spacetime emergence are aided by conducting the investigation atthe level of specific spatiotemporal aspects.
AB - In this article, we argue that what is often discussed under the umbrella of ‘spacetimeemergence’ in the philosophy of quantum gravity in fact consists of a plethora of distinctand even highly different problems. We therefore advocate to cast such debates morespecifically in terms of the emergent spatiotemporal aspects, as is already done in thephysics literature. We first show how ambiguous the notion of spacetime is already ingeneral relativity. We then argue against three ways to reject our call for specificity:the many distinct philosophical problems relating to the emergence of the various spa-tiotemporal aspects do not suggest any singular, overarching, or exceptional problem ofspacetime emergence. We also discuss how the objections are reflected by five concep-tions of spacetime. Next, we observe that different spatiotemporal aspects are emergentin the different quantum gravity approaches, whereby investigating emergence in quan-tum gravity collectively is problematic. Finally, we illustrate how philosophical inquiriesthat employ notions of spacetime emergence are aided by conducting the investigation atthe level of specific spatiotemporal aspects.
U2 - 10.1086/727052
DO - 10.1086/727052
M3 - Journal article
JO - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
JF - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
SN - 0007-0882
ER -
ID: 362690267