Related papers: Dynamics of Causal Sets
In the absence of an external frame of reference physical degrees of freedom must describe relations between systems. Using a simple model, we investigate how such a relational quantum theory naturally arises by promoting reference systems…
A stochastic theory of gravity is described in which the metric tensor is a random variable such that the spacetime manifold is a fluctuating physical system at a certain length scale. A general formalism is described for calculating…
An outstanding challenge for models of non-perturbative quantum gravity is the consistent formulation and quantitative evaluation of physical phenomena in a regime where geometry and matter are strongly coupled. After developing appropriate…
General relativity is a background-independent theory of a dynamical classical spacetime geometry. Quantum theory is formulated in a classical spacetime, as an intrinsically probabilistic, contextual theory of non-classical, interfering…
A new law of physics is proposed, defined on the cosmological scale but with significant implications for the microscale. Motivated by nonlinear dynamical systems theory and black-hole thermodynamics, the Invariant Set Postulate proposes…
The formalism of causal dynamical triangulations (CDT) provides us with a non-perturbatively defined model of quantum gravity, where the sum over histories includes only causal space-time histories. Path integrals of CDT and their continuum…
In this paper we consider a claim that in the natural world there is no fact of the matter about the spatio-temporal separation of events. In order to make sense of such a notion and construct useful models of the world, it is proposed to…
We propose an approach to quantum theory based on the energetic causal sets, introduced in Cort\^{e}s and Smolin (2013). Fundamental processes are causal sets whose events carry momentum and energy, which are transmitted along causal links…
Real world systems evolve in continuous-time according to their underlying causal relationships, yet their dynamics are often unknown. Existing approaches to learning such dynamics typically either discretize time -- leading to poor…
One of the main technical obstacles in constructing a consistent theory of quantum gravity is that the metric itself defines the causal structure required for quantization. This motivates implementing quantum aspects of gravity through an…
A realistic measurement-free theory for the quantum physics of multiple qubits is proposed. This theory is based on a symbolic representation of a fractal state-space geometry which is invariant under the action of deterministic and locally…
Causal Dynamical Triangulations is a non-perturbative quantum gravity model, defined with a lattice cut-off. The model can be viewed as defined with a proper time but with no reference to any three-dimensional spatial background geometry.…
Theories of quantum gravity generically presuppose or predict that the reality underlying relativistic spacetimes they are describing is significantly non-spatiotemporal. On pain of empirical incoherence, approaches to quantum gravity must…
Causal reasoning is essential to science, yet quantum theory challenges it. Quantum correlations violating Bell inequalities defy satisfactory causal explanations within the framework of classical causal models. What is more, a theory…
The idea that events obey a definite causal order is deeply rooted in our understanding of the world and at the basis of the very notion of time. But where does causal order come from, and is it a necessary property of nature? We address…
A classical precursor to a full quantum dynamics for causal sets has been forumlated in terms of a stochastic sequential growth process in which the elements of the causal set arise in a sort of accretion process. The transition…
A large class of the dynamical laws for causal sets described by a classical process of sequential growth yield a cyclic universe, whose cycles of expansion and contraction are punctuated by single `origin elements' of the causal set. We…
A discrete model of Lorentzian quantum gravity is proposed. The theory is completely background free, containing no reference to absolute space, time, or simultaneity. The states at one slice of time are networks in which each vertex is…
In general relativity, `causal structure' refers to the partial order on space-time points (or regions) that encodes time-like relationships. Recently, quantum information and quantum foundations saw the emergence of a `causality…
In this article we set out to understand the significance of the process matrix formalism and the quantum causal modelling programme for ongoing disputes about the role of causation in fundamental physics. We argue that the process matrix…