Related papers: The philosophy of causal set theory
Recently, there has been substantial interest in studying the dynamics of quantum theory beyond that of states, in particular, the dynamics of channels, measurements, and higher-order transformations. Ref. [Phys. Rev. X 8(1), 011047 (2018)]…
It is often argued that bottom-up causation under a physicalist, reductionist worldview precludes free will in the libertarian sense. On the one hand, the paradigm of classical mechanics makes determinism inescapable, while on the other,…
What happens to the causal structure of a world when time is reversed? At first glance it seems there are two possible answers: the causal relations are reversed, or they are not. I argue that neither of these answers is correct: we should…
The theory of causal fermion systems is a new physical theory which aims to describe a fundamental level of physical reality. Its mathematical core is the causal action principle. In this thesis, we develop a formalism which connects the…
Causality has the potential to truly transform the way we solve a large number of real-world problems. Yet, so far, its potential largely remains to be unlocked as causality often requires crucial assumptions which cannot be tested in…
We study the statistical fluctuations (such as the variance) of causal set quantities, with particular focus on the causal set action. To facilitate calculating such fluctuations, we develop tools to account for correlations between causal…
A two boundary quantum mechanics without time ordered causal structure is advocated as consistent theory. The apparent causal structure of usual "near future" macroscopic phenomena is attributed to a cosmological asymmetry and to rules…
Certain approaches to quantum gravity, such as the one based on the concept of purely virtual particles (fakeons), sacrifice the cause-effect relation at very small scales to reconcile renormalizability with unitarity. Other developments…
There is growing interest in the study of causal methods in the Earth sciences. However, most applications have focused on causal discovery, i.e. inferring the causal relationships and causal structure from data. This paper instead examines…
Quantum theory in a global space-time gives rise to non-local correlations, which cannot be explained causally in a satisfactory way; this motivates the study of theories with reduced global assumptions. Oreshkov, Costa, and Brukner (2012)…
We construct a Dirac theory on causal sets; a key element in the construction being that the causet must be regarded as emergent in an appropriate sense too. We further notice that mixed norm spaces appear in the construction allowing for…
We survey the logical structure of constructive set theories and point towards directions for future research. Moreover, we analyse the consequences of being extensible for the logical structure of a given constructive set theory. We…
The Causal Set Theory (CST) approach to quantum gravity is motivated by the observation that, associated with any causal spacetime (M,g) is a poset (M,<), with the order relation < corresponding to the spacetime causal relation. Spacetime…
This thesis is situated within the context of quantum gravity, broadly understood as any effort to explore the interplay between gravitation and the quantum realm, without necessarily requiring the quantization of the gravitational field…
Popular wisdom amongst theoretical physicists says that the continuum structure of spacetime is probably not elementary, but rather emergent. While many arguments to support that view arise from speculative ideas, the argument can also be…
Recently there has been significant interest in using causal modelling techniques to understand the structure of physical theories. However, the notion of `causation' is limiting - insisting that a physical theory must involve causal…
This essay presents an accessible introduction to the basic motivations to seek a quantum theory of gravity. It focuses on one approach- loop quantum gravity - as an example of the rich philosophical issues that arise when we try to combine…
Causal discovery is the subfield of causal inference concerned with estimating the structure of cause-and-effect relationships in a system of interrelated variables, as opposed to quantifying the strength or describing the form of causal…
It is well-known that if one assumes quantum theory to hold locally, then processes with indefinite causal order and cyclic causal structures become feasible. Here, we study qualitative limitations on causal structures and correlations…
It is often said that the relativistic fusion of time with space rules out genuine change or ``becoming''. I offer the classical sequential growth models of causal set theory as counterexamples.