Emergent spacetime according to effective field theory: From top-down and bottom-up

作者：Crowther Karen^*

来源：Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics , 2013, 44(3): 321-328.

DOI：10.1016/j.shpsb.2012.08.001

• Analogue spacetime
• Effective field theory
• Quantum field theory
• Quantum gravity
• Condensed matter
• Emergence

The framework of effective field theory (EFT) is a natural one in which to understand the claim that the spacetime of general relativity (GR) is an emergent low-energy phenomenon. I argue for a pragmatic understanding of EFT, given that the appropriate conception of emergence it suggests is necessarily epistemological in a sense. Analogue models of spacetime are examples of the top-down approach to EFT. They offer concrete illustrations of spacetime emergent within an EFT, and lure us toward a strong analogy between condensed matter physics and GR. I argue that we should be wary of this strong analogy, not least because the pragmatic view of EFT places limits on how much we can legitimately draw from it. On the other hand, programs that treat GR as an EFT and calculate quantum corrections are an example of the bottom-up approach and are explicitly pragmatic in character. I explore what we may learn about the nature of emergent spacetime by comparing these two approaches.

• 出版日期2013-8