Building spacetime from effective interactions between quantum fluctuations

TL;DR

This paper explores how effective interactions between quantum fluctuations can lead to a spacetime that resembles general relativity at large scales, suggesting a quantum origin of spacetime structure.

Contribution

It proposes a model where quantum fluctuations entangle and form a cohesive spacetime, linking quantum interactions directly to emergent classical geometry.

Findings

Effective theory matches vacuum general relativity

Quantum fluctuations modeled as Gaussian distributions

Spacetime propagation as Gaussian random walk

Abstract

We describe how a model of effective interactions between quantum fluctuations under certain assumptions can be constructed in a way so that the large-scale limit gives an effective theory that matches general relativity in vacuum regions. This is an investigation of a possible scenario of spacetime emergence from quantum interactions directly in the spacetime, and of how effective quantum behaviour might provide a useful link between detailed properties of quantum interactions and general relativity. The quantum fluctuations are assumed to entangle sufficiently for a cohesive spacetime to form, so that their effective properties can be described relative to a D-dimensional reference frame. To obtain the desired features of a smooth metric with a vanishing Ricci tensor, the quantum fluctuations are modelled as Gaussian probability distributions, with a shape set relative to the interactions coming from the surroundings. At small scales, the propagation through the spacetime is modelled by a Gaussian random walk.