On the emergence of the structure of Physics

TL;DR

This paper explores the foundational axioms of physics, proposing a principle of self-duality to understand the emergence of spacetime and gravity from deeper quantum theories, including a toy model of quantum gravity.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach based on quantum self-duality and presents a simple toy model to illustrate emergent gravity from quantum spacetime concepts.

Findings

Proposes a principle of self-duality as a key to quantum gravity

Develops a toy model of gravity on a four-point spacetime

Suggests new ways to understand the emergence of spacetime structure

Abstract

We consider Hilbert's problem of the axioms of Physics at a qualitative or conceptual level. This issue is more pressing than ever as we seek to understand how both General Relativity and quantum theory could emerge from some deeper theory of quantum gravity, and in this regard I have previously proposed a `principle of self-duality' or `quantum Born reciprocity' as a key structure. Here I outline some of my recent work around the idea of quantum spacetime as motivated by this non-standard philosophy, including a new toy model of gravity on a spacetime consisting of four points forming a square.