Related papers: Spacetime Conventionalism Revisited
Physical time intervals are attributes of single physical object whereas physical space intervals are a relational attribute of two physical objects. Some consequences of the breaking of the space-time exchange symmetry inherent in the…
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…
In prior work, we have argued that spacetime functionalism provides tools for clarifying the conceptual difficulties specifically linked to the emergence of spacetime in certain approaches to quantum gravity. We argue in this article that…
A physical interpretation of axioms of the differential structure of space-time is presented. Consequences of such interpretation for cosmic string's space-time with a scalar field are studied. It is shown that the assumption of smoothness…
We present current theories about the structure of space and time, where the building blocks are some fundamental entities (yes-no experiment, quantum processes, spin net-work, preparticles) that do not presuppose the existence of space and…
Familiar textbook quantum mechanics assumes a fixed background spacetime to define states on spacelike surfaces and their unitary evolution between them. Quantum theory has changed as our conceptions of space and time have evolved. But…
A new interpretation of quantum mechanics, similar to the Copenhagen interpretation, is developed from time-symmetry arguments and commonly held principles concerning time and causality. These principles, which are grounded in ideas outside…
In it's usual presentation, classical mechanics appears to give time a very special role. But it is well known that mechanics can be formulated so as to treat the time variable on the same footing as the other variables in the extended…
The existence of time machines, understood as spacetime constructions exhibiting physically realised closed timelike curves (CTCs), would raise fundamental problems with causality and challenge our current understanding of classical and…
When modelling spacetime and classical physical fields, one typically assumes smoothness (infinite differentiability). But this assumption and its philosophical implications have not been sufficiently scrutinized. For example, we can appeal…
Cosmology today is confronted with several seemingly insoluble puzzles and strange, inexplicable coincidences. But a careful re-examination of the Cosmological principle and the Weyl postulate, foundational elements in this subject,…
The paper presents a metaphysical characterization of spatiotemporal backgrounds from a realist perspective. The conceptual analysis is based on a heuristic sketch that encompasses the common formal traits of the major spacetime theories,…
We review an approach to non-commutative geometry, where models are constructed by quantisation of the coordinates. In particular we focus on the full DFR model and its irreducible components; the (arbitrary) restriction to a particular…
Among the various attempts to formulate a theory of quantum gravity, a class of approaches suggests that spacetime, as modeled by general relativity, is destined to fade away. A major issue becomes then to identify which structures may…
The standard lore in noncommutative physics is the use of first order variational description of a dynamical system to probe the space noncommutativity and its consequences in the dynamics in phase space. As the ultimate goal is to…
We describe a theory amalgamating quantum theory and general relativity through the identification of a continuous 4-dimensional spacetime arena constructed from the substructures of a generalised multi-dimensional form for proper time. In…
We study the Hilbert space structure of classical spacetimes under the assumption that entanglement in holographic theories determines semiclassical geometry. We show that this simple assumption has profound implications; for example, a…
Quantum cognition often explains order effects, contextuality, and violations of the law of total probability by replacing classical probability with quantum probability on a fixed event structure. This paper proposes a different…
We present a concise description of the basic features of gravity-matter models based on the formalism of non-canonical spacetime volume-forms in its two versions: the method of non-Riemannian volume-forms (metric-independent covariant…
We first examine the approximation involved in the conventional differentiable spacetime manifold. We then analyse how, going beyond this approximation, we reach the non commutative spacetime of recent approaches. It is shown that this…