The dissertation investigates some relevant metaphysical issues arising in the context of spacetime theories. In particular, the inquiry focuses on general relativity and canonical quantum gravity. A formal definition of spacetime theory is proposed and, against this framework, an analysis of the notions of general covariance, symmetry and background independence is performed. It is argued that many conceptual issues in general relativity and canonical quantum gravity derive from putting excessive emphasis on general covariance as an ontological prin-ciple. An original metaphysical position grounded in scientific essential- ism and causal realism (weak essentialism) is developed and defended. It is argued that, in the context of general relativity, weak essentialism supports spacetime substantivalism. It is also shown that weak essentialism escapes arguments from metaphysical underdetermination by positing a particular kind of causation, dubbed geometric. The proposed interpretive framework is then applied to Bohmian mechanics, pointing out that weak essentialism nicely fits into this theory. In the end, a possible Bohmian implementation of loop quantum gravity is considered, and such a Bohmian approach is interpreted in a geometric causal fashion. Under this interpretation, Bohmian loop quantum gravity straightforwardly commits us to an ontology of elementary extensions of space whose evolution is described by a non-local law. The causal mechanism underlying this evolution clarifies many conceptual issues related to the emergence of classical spacetime from the quantum regime. Although there is as yet no fully worked out physical theory of quantum gravity, it is argued that the proposed approach sets up a standard that proposals for a serious ontology in this field should meet.
The dissertation investigates some relevant metaphysical issues arising in the context of spacetime theories. In particular, the inquiry focuses on general relativity and canonical quantum gravity. A formal definition of spacetime theory is proposed and, against this framework, an analysis of the notions of general covariance, symmetry and background independence is performed. It is argued that many conceptual issues in general relativity and canonical quantum gravity derive from putting excessive emphasis on general covariance as an ontological prin-ciple. An original metaphysical position grounded in scientific essential- ism and causal realism (weak essentialism) is developed and defended. It is argued that, in the context of general relativity, weak essentialism supports spacetime substantivalism. It is also shown that weak essentialism escapes arguments from metaphysical underdetermination by positing a particular kind of causation, dubbed geometric. The proposed interpretive framework is then applied to Bohmian mechanics, pointing out that weak essentialism nicely fits into this theory. In the end, a possible Bohmian implementation of loop quantum gravity is considered, and such a Bohmian approach is interpreted in a geometric causal fashion. Under this interpretation, Bohmian loop quantum gravity straightforwardly commits us to an ontology of elementary extensions of space whose evolution is described by a non-local law. The causal mechanism underlying this evolution clarifies many conceptual issues related to the emergence of classical spacetime from the quantum regime. Although there is as yet no fully worked out physical theory of quantum gravity, it is argued that the proposed approach sets up a standard that proposals for a serious ontology in this field should meet.
The paper shows how the Bohmian approach to quantum physics can be applied to develop a clear and coherent ontology of non-pertur-bative quantum gravity. We suggest retaining discrete objects as the primitive ontology also when it comes to a quantum theory of space-time and therefore focus on loop quantum gravity. We conceive atoms of space, represented in terms of nodes linked by edges in a graph, as the primitive ontology of the theory and show how a non-local law in which a universal and stationary wave-function figures can provide an order of configurations of such atoms of space such that the classical space-time of general relativity is approximated. Although there is as yet no fully worked out physical theory of quantum gravity, we regard the Bohmian approach as setting up a standard that proposals for a serious ontology in this field should meet and as opening up a route for fruitful physical and mathematical investigations.
The problem of time in quantum gravity is often presented as a consequence of applying quantum theory to general relativity. These notes adopt a broader perspective. We first examine how time enters classical mechanics, relativity, quantum theory, and quantum field theory, distinguishing three principal aspects: causal order, temporal duration, and the present. This analysis shows that the conceptual difficulties associated with time do not arise only when gravity is quantised. Tensions between causal structure, clocks, observables, and measurement are already present in the theories from which quantum gravity is constructed. We then survey responses to the problem of time across the principal approaches to quantum gravity. These include canonical and Wheeler-DeWitt quantisation, path-integral and histories formulations, perturbative and background-dependent approaches, causal sets, and twistor theory. The programmes are compared according to whether they retain an external time, render time problematic through quantisation, or incorporate causal or temporal structure into their foundations. Particular emphasis is placed on questions arising from quantum foundations and relativistic quantum information. We conclude by examining linearised gravity and weak-gravity quantum systems. This regime shows that the problem of time is not confined to Planck-scale physics, but arises already in attempts to provide a predictive and operationally meaningful quantum description of spacetime near flat geometry.
Quantum gravity aims to describe gravity in quantum mechanical terms. How exactly this needs to be done remains an open question. Various proposals have been put on the table, such as canonical quantum gravity, loop quantum gravity, string theory, etc. These proposals often encounter technical and conceptual problems. In this chapter, we focus on canonical quantum gravity and discuss how many conceptual problems, such as the measurement problem and the problem of time, can be overcome by adopting a Bohmian point of view. In a Bohmian theory (also called pilot-wave theory or de Broglie-Bohm theory, after its originators de Broglie and Bohm), a system is described by certain variables in space-time such as particles or fields or something else, whose dynamics depends on the wave function. In the context of quantum gravity, these variables are a space-time metric and suitable variable for the matter fields (e.g., particles or fields). In addition to solving the conceptual problems, the Bohmian approach yields new applications and predictions in quantum cosmology. These include space-time singularity resolution, new types of semi-classical approximations to quantum gravity, and approximations for quantum perturbations moving in a quantum background.
Causal set theory starts out from a central result in general relativity according to which the causal structure determines, up to a so-called ‘conformal factor’, the geometry of a relativistic spacetime. Space and time, it seems, must be part and parcel of the ontology of any physical theory, of any theory with a credible claim to being a physical theory, that is. After all, physics is the science of the fundamental constitution of the material bodies, their motion in space and time, and indeed of space and time themselves. There are two areas in physics in which space or spacetime may emerge from something qualitatively rather different: wave function monism in quantum mechanics and quantum theories of gravity. The former case concerns a particular interpretative issue in non-relativistic quantum mechanics. The severity and the characteristics of the disappearance of spacetime differ from one approach to quantum gravity to another.
This paper introduces the Theory of Emergent Metric Tension in Causality (TEMTC), grounded in the foundational registers of Meta-Para-Ontology, as an ontological framework for understanding the conceptual divide between quantum mechanics and general relativity. Rather than attempting a technical unification of the two theories, the approach reconsiders the ontological assumptions underlying them. It is argued that spacetime structure, gravitational dynamics, and the phenomena collectively described as quantum behavior should not be treated as fundamental features of reality, but as emergent expressions of a deeper level of causal organization. Within this framework, causality is conceived as a structured field of relational constraints whose internal tensions become observable as phenomena. Spacetime geometry expresses the stabilization of these causal relations, and gravity reflects variations in their density and organization. Space and time arise at the level of manifestation as relational forms through which causal organization becomes accessible to experience and observation. By situating both quantum mechanics and general relativity within a common ontological context, TEMTC provides a conceptual basis for understanding their incompatibility while preserving the integrity of each theory and requiring no additional physical postulates.
This chapter focuses on canonical quantum gravity and discusses how many conceptual problems, such as the measurement problem and the problem of time, can be overcome by adopting a Bohmian point of view. It shows that a significant progress can be made by considering the canonical quantization of gravity from the Bohmian point of view. The chapter highlights some important properties that will also be used in the context of quantum gravity. It explores the conceptual problems that appear when trying to interpret the theory in the context of orthodox quantum theory. The chapter describes Bohmian quantum gravity and explains how it solves the conceptual problems and minisuperspace models. It also shows how the problem of the quantum-to-classical limit in inflationary and bouncing models is solved. The chapter provides a new approach to semiclassical gravity, which treats gravity classically and matter quantum mechanically, based on Bohmian mechanics.