English

Emergent Continuum Spacetime from a Random, Discrete, Partial Order

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2009-11-05 v1

Abstract

There are several indications (from different approaches) that Spacetime at the Plank Scale could be discrete. One approach to Quantum Gravity that takes this most seriously is the Causal Sets Approach. In this approach spacetime is fundamentally a discrete, random, partially ordered set (where the partial order is the causal relation). In this contribution, we examine how timelike and spacelike distances arise from a causal set (in the case that the causal set is approximated by Minkowski spacetime), and how one can use this to obtain geometrical information (such as lengths of curves) for the general case, where the causal set could be approximated by some curved spacetime.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0811.1178,
  title  = {Emergent Continuum Spacetime from a Random, Discrete, Partial Order},
  author = {David Rideout and Petros Wallden},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0811.1178},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

8 pages, 2 figures, based on talk by P. Wallden at the NEB XIII conference

R2 v1 2026-06-21T11:39:20.680Z