Is Space-time Really Doomed?

Abstract

For many years now it has become conventional for theorists to argue that "space-time is doomed", with the difficulties in finding a quantum theory of gravity implying the necessity of basing a fundamental theory on something quite different than usual notions of space-time geometry. But what is this space-time geometry that is doomed? In this essay we'll explore how our understanding of four-dimensional geometry has evolved since Einstein, leading to new ideas about such geometry which may not be doomed at all.

Essay written for the Gravity Research Foundation 2022 Awards for Essays on Gravitation