Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Causal set theory offers a simple and elegant picture of discrete physics. But the vast majority of causal sets look nothing at all like continuum spacetimes, and must be excluded in some way to obtain a realistic theory. I describe recent results showing that almost all non-manifoldlike causal sets are, in fact, very strongly suppressed in the gravitational path integral. This does not quite demonstrate the emergence of a continuum—we do not yet understand the remaining unsuppressed causal sets well enough—but it is a significant step in that direction.
Author: S. Carlip
Institution: University of California, Davis
Language: English
Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,090
Funder: U.S. Department of Energy
OpenAlex ID: W4401576811