Research Project
Huggett, Nicholas
Space and Time After Quantum Gravity
- Principal Investigator
- Huggett, Nick
- Start Date
- 2015-09-01
- End Date
- 2018-08-31
- Funding Source
- John Templeton Foundation
Abstract
This project focuses on the foundations of string theory and related approaches, on the foundations of approaches that have grown out of general relativity such as loop quantum gravity and causal set theory, and on their metaphysical implications. More specifically, we will investigate such question as whether space and time are emergent in matrix theory; what implications QG has for our conception of the cosmos; how a functional analysis of spacetime may be sufficient to show how relativistic spacetimes can emerge from fundamental, non-spatiotemporal structures; whether, and to what extent, time travel is permitted in various approaches, and how this fits with the predictions of general relativity. Additional projects will study the broader ramifications of QG for philosophy: especially, how to rethink such metaphysical concepts as possibility and actuality in a world without spacetime. This work will be disseminated in scholarly publications in the first instance.