The disappearance of space and time in quantum theories of gravity

Christian Wüthrich, Ph.D. Professor
Universite de Geneve, Switzerland

There are compelling reasons to think that current physical theories will have to yield to a more fundamental quantum theory of gravity. As it turns out, space and time are conspicuous by their absence in many of these theories of quantum gravity, although the specific way in which and the extent to which the fundamental structure is non-spatiotemporal varies from approach to approach. My lecture will illustrate this non-spatiotemporality by example, articulating why this poses a deep philosophical and scientific challenge to any candidate theory in quantum theory, and sketch ways in which this challenge can be met.