Andrea Di Biagio
December 2025
Inaugural Workshop on Emergent Geometries co-funded by the Gravity Theory Trust
The workshop at NORDITA, co-funded by the Gravity Theory Trust, focused on the question of spacetime emergence, bringing together researchers from philosophy, quantum gravity, quantum information, condensed matter physics, and related fields in a concentrated but convivial setting. A central aim was to begin building a community around this topic by connecting researchers who approach spacetime emergence from fragmented corners of physics and philosophy. These communities typically speak different conceptual languages and lack regular forums for exchange. The five-day event featured morning talks pairing philosophers with physicists, afternoon panel discussions and guided breakout sessions, open collaboration time.
Philosophical contributions examined the metaphysical structure of emergence theories—whether spacetime should be understood as eliminated, reduced, or derived from more fundamental structures—and explored implications for scientific realism when dual formulations suggest radically different ontologies, as well as a geometrical view of theory-space.
Multiple approaches to quantum gravity were presented, including group field theory and its application to cosmology, matrix quantum mechanics as a model for M-theory, and the role of quantum error correction in emergent geometry.
Several talks emphasized information-theoretic foundations, examining how spacetime and quantum field theory might emerge from abstract information processing structures such as quantum cellular automata, and how the formalism of quantum mechanics itself emerges only relative to sufficiently large reference systems. The workshop also featured a spectral-geometric approach to spacetime emergence which features energy dependent dimensionality and signature. Analogue gravity models that use condensed matter systems to probe potential mechanisms underlying gravitational phenomena and spacetime emergence, including the emergence of time, were also presented.The diversity of methodologies—ranging from formal mathematical physics to conceptual and philosophical analysis—illustrated both the richness of current work on spacetime emergence and the ongoing challenge of establishing common ground across such different disciplinary traditions.