Related papers: Philosophical problems of space-time theories
In several previous papers we have argued for a global and non-entropic approach to the problem of the arrow of time, according to which the ''arrow'' is only a metaphorical way of expressing the geometrical time-asymmetry of the universe.…
A practical way to deal with the problem of time in quantum cosmology and quantum gravity is proposed. The main tool is effective equations, which mainly restrict explicit considerations to semiclassical regimes but have the crucial…
We put forth the idea that Hamilton's equations coincide with deterministic and reversible evolution. We explore the idea from five different perspectives (mathematics, measurements, thermodynamics, information theory and state mapping) and…
The concept of the space-time as emerging in the world phase transition, vs. a priori existing, is put forward. The theory of gravity with two basic symmetries, the global affine one and the general covariance, is developed. Implications…
Quantum entanglement and relativistic causality are key concepts in theoretical works seeking to unify quantum mechanics and gravity. In this article, we show that the interplay between relativity theory and quantum entanglement has…
In the early 2000s, the study of time operators advanced as one of the methods to understand the problem of time as mathematical science. However, the starting point for the time operator is to understand time as a problem of observation…
We provide five rearticulations of the thesis that the structure of spacetime is conventional, rather than empirically determined, based upon variation of the structures that are empirically underdetermined and modal contexts in which this…
A common feature of reparametrization invariant theories is the difficulty involved in identifying an appropriate evolution parameter and in constructing a Hilbert space on states. Two well known examples of such theories are the…
Challenging Mermin's perspective that ``correlations have physical reality; that which they correlate does not'' we argue that correlations and correlata are not fundamentally distinct. These are dual concepts depending on the tensor…
The relativistic conception of space and time is challenged by the quantum nature of physical observables. It has been known for a long time that Poincar\'e symmetry of field theory can be extended to the larger conformal symmetry. We use…
We discuss a number of comments on quant-ph/9801061, and propose to introduce the concept of 'Causal Indistinguishability'. The incompatibility between Quantum Mechanics and Nonlocal Causality appears to be unavoidable: upholding of Quantum…
General relativity allows solutions exhibiting closed timelike curves. Time travel generates paradoxes and quantum mechanics generalizations were proposed to solve those paradoxes. The implications of self-consistent interactions on acausal…
In recent reports, suggestions have been put forward to the effect that parity and time-reversal (PT) symmetry in quantum mechanics is incompatible with causality. It is shown here, in contrast, that PT-symmetric quantum mechanics is fully…
I explain the difficulty of making various concepts of and relating to probability precise, rigorous and physically significant when attempting to apply them in reasoning about objects (e.g., spacetimes) living in infinite-dimensional…
The time-of-arrival problem asks for the probability distribution for when a quantum particle reaches a specified location. It has been the subject of decades of debate, exemplifying the lack of a self-adjoint time observable in quantum…
The role of time in quantum mechanics is discussed. The differences between ordinary observables and an observable which corresponds to the time of an event is examined. In particular, the time-of-arrival of a particle to a fixed location…
We apply the causal interpretation of quantum mechanics to homogeneous quantum cosmology and show that the quantum theory is independent of any time-gauge choice and there is no issue of time. We exemplify this result by studying a…
Whether or not space-time is fundamentally discrete is of central importance for the development of the theory of quantum gravity. If the fundamental description of space-time is discrete, typically represented in terms of a graph or…
The hypothesis that the causal properties of space-time, as well as other properties of physical systems like unitarity, charge conservation, etc., might be decided by the higher dimensional structure (in particular, higher-dimensional…
This work explores the connection between logical independence and the algebraic structure of quantum mechanics. Building on results by Brukner et al., it introduces the notion of \textit{onto-epistemic ignorance}: situations in which the…