TY - JOUR

T1 - The many problems of spacetime emergence in quantum gravity

AU - Jaksland, Rasmus

AU - Salimkhani, Kian

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - In this article, we argue that what is often discussed under the umbrella of ‘spacetimeemergence’ in the philosophy of quantum gravity in fact consists of a plethora of distinctand even highly different problems. We therefore advocate to cast such debates morespecifically in terms of the emergent spatiotemporal aspects, as is already done in thephysics literature. We first show how ambiguous the notion of spacetime is already ingeneral relativity. We then argue against three ways to reject our call for specificity:the many distinct philosophical problems relating to the emergence of the various spa-tiotemporal aspects do not suggest any singular, overarching, or exceptional problem ofspacetime emergence. We also discuss how the objections are reflected by five concep-tions of spacetime. Next, we observe that different spatiotemporal aspects are emergentin the different quantum gravity approaches, whereby investigating emergence in quan-tum gravity collectively is problematic. Finally, we illustrate how philosophical inquiriesthat employ notions of spacetime emergence are aided by conducting the investigation atthe level of specific spatiotemporal aspects.

AB - In this article, we argue that what is often discussed under the umbrella of ‘spacetimeemergence’ in the philosophy of quantum gravity in fact consists of a plethora of distinctand even highly different problems. We therefore advocate to cast such debates morespecifically in terms of the emergent spatiotemporal aspects, as is already done in thephysics literature. We first show how ambiguous the notion of spacetime is already ingeneral relativity. We then argue against three ways to reject our call for specificity:the many distinct philosophical problems relating to the emergence of the various spa-tiotemporal aspects do not suggest any singular, overarching, or exceptional problem ofspacetime emergence. We also discuss how the objections are reflected by five concep-tions of spacetime. Next, we observe that different spatiotemporal aspects are emergentin the different quantum gravity approaches, whereby investigating emergence in quan-tum gravity collectively is problematic. Finally, we illustrate how philosophical inquiriesthat employ notions of spacetime emergence are aided by conducting the investigation atthe level of specific spatiotemporal aspects.

U2 - 10.1086/727052

DO - 10.1086/727052

M3 - Journal article

JO - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science

JF - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science

SN - 0007-0882

ER -