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Elimination of Time in Quantum Gravity

Project Funding: Rotman Institute Graduate Interdisciplinary Research Accelerator Fund (GIRAF)

This project examines the role of time in contemporary physics, especially in debates about quantum gravity. Building on the work of physicist and philosopher Carlo Rovelli, this project explores whether time can be understood relationally: not as a separate background variable, but through the changing relationships between physical quantities.

The project asks whether Rovelli’s account offers a genuine middle ground between traditional views of time and more radical approaches that eliminate time from fundamental physics altogether. In particular, the project will investigate whether relational accounts of time can avoid relying on an implicit background notion of time.

Yifei Ren, PhD Student

Francesca Vidotto, Senior Scientist of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Adam Koberinski, Postdoctoral fellow