Building Space Out of Nowhere: New Directions for Space Emergence in Fundamental Physics

根据量子力学中的波函数实在论（WFR），物理世界中最基本的空间不是我们所熟悉的三维空间，而是一个令人难以置信的高维空间。类似地，量子引力（QG）的一些理论认为，我们的世界基本上是非时空的。尽管如此——即使基本的本体论是非空间的——那些研究WFR和QG的人通常声称空间和空间对象在某种（衍生）方式上是真实的。事实上，他们认为空间和/或三维物体以某种方式从基本的非空间层面产生。然而，涌现在这里通常被当作一个代理术语，需要澄清。我的研究项目的中心主题将是这种涌现关系的本质。我将从基本层面讨论与消除空间有关的主要问题，并阐述建立空间出现理论的必要性。因此，我将评估文献中的主要现有账户，即空间功能主义。我将讨论空间功能主义是如何反对上述问题的，我将试图阐明这一理论的本体论承诺到底是什么，以及它如何解释空间的出现。最后，如果空间功能主义是一个令人不满意的解决方案，我将尝试制定另一种解释

According to wave function realism (WFR) in quantum mechanics, the most fundamental space ofthe physical world is not the familiar three-dimensional one, but an incredibly high-dimensional space. Similarly, some theories of quantumgravity (QG) suggest that our world is fundamentally non-spatiotemporal. Nonetheless - even though the fundamental ontology is non-spatial -those who work on WFR and QG usually claim that space and spatial objects are in a certain (derivative) way genuinelyreal. In fact, they suggest that space and/or three-dimensional objects somehow emerge from the fundamental non-spatial level. However,emergence is usually taken here as a proxy term, standing in need of clarification. The central topic of my research project will be the nature ofthis emergence relation. I shall discuss the major issues related to the elimination of space from the fundamental level, and set out the desideratafor a theory of space emergence. Thus, I will assess the main existing account within the literature, namely space functionalism. I will discuss howspace functionalism fares against the issues mentioned above, and I will try to set out what are precisely the ontological committments of thistheory, and how it can account for the emergence of space. Finally, if space functionalism will turn out to be an unsatisfactory solution, I will tryto formulate an alternative account