Chua, Eugene Y. S. (2026) Physical Coherence and Time's Emergence. [Preprint]
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Abstract
It is often said that time vanishes in quantum gravity. One general approach to quantum gravity accepts this fundamental timelessness but seeks to derive time’s emergence at a non-fundamental level. To better assess such approaches, I develop the criterion of physical coherence and situate it in context by applying it to two programs for time’s emergence, drawing from recent works by Chua and Callender (2021) and Chua (2025): semiclassical time and thermal time. Unlike some recent arguments for the metaphysical incoherence of time’s emergence, which rule out all claims of time’s emergence ‘from on high’ once we’ve fixed a definition of metaphysical emergence, my criterion of physical coherence leaves open the possibility that some programs in quantum gravity may succeed on their own terms in providing a physically coherent derivation of time from no-time. This sets a challenge for proponents of time’s emergence to clarify the conceptual foundations of their program, while at the same time acting as a litmus test for a program’s success.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Additional Information: | Accepted at Synthese. Preprint of 24 May 2026. Please cite published version when available. | ||||||
| Keywords: | problem of time, quantum gravity, emergence of time, Wheeler-DeWitt equation, physical coherence, semiclassical time, thermal time hypothesis | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Gravity |
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| Depositing User: | Dr. Eugene Y. S. Chua | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 29 May 2026 12:31 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 29 May 2026 12:31 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 29776 | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Gravity |
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| Date: | 2026 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/29776 |
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