English

The Great Rift in Physics

History and Philosophy of Physics 2025-03-27 v1 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology Quantum Physics

Abstract

It is commonly remarked that contemporary physics faces a challenge in reconciling quantum theory with Relativity, specifically General Relativity as a theory of gravity. But "challenge" is too mild a descriptor. Once one understands both what John Bell proved and what Einstein himself demanded of Relativity it becomes clear that the predictions of quantum theory, predictions that have been verified in the lab, are flatly incompatible with what Einstein wanted and built into General Relativity. There is not merely a tension but an incompatibility between the predictions of quantum theory and Relativity, and what has to give way is the Relativistic account of space-time structure and dynamics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2503.20067,
  title  = {The Great Rift in Physics},
  author = {Tim Maudlin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.20067},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

28 pages, 4 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-28T22:34:27.248Z