On the origin of the difference between time and space

Abstract

We suggest that the difference between time and space is due to spontaneous symmetry breaking. In a theory with spinors the signature of the metric is related to the signature of the Lorentz-group. We discuss a higher symmetry that contains pseudo-orthogonal groups with arbitrary signature as subgroups. The fundamental asymmetry between time and space arises then as a property of the ground state rather than being put into the formulation of the theory a priori. We show how the complex structure of quantum field theory as well as gravitational field equations arise from spinor gravity - a fundamental spinor theory without a metric.

4 pages

Cited by in corpus (19)

• Emergent Models for Gravity: an Overview of Microscopic Models
• Wicked metrics
• Phase transitions in spinor quantum gravity on a lattice
• Spinors in euclidean field theory, complex structures and discrete symmetries
• Lattice spinor gravity
• Topological polarization, dual invariants, and surface flat band in crystalline insulators
• Pregeometry and spontaneous time-space asymmetry
• Pregeometry and euclidean quantum gravity
• Cosmology from pregeometry
• Fermions from classical statistics
• Universality of geometry
• Lattice diffeomorphism invariance
• Geometry and symmetries in lattice spinor gravity
• Topological Superfluids
• Spinor gravity and diffeomorphism invariance on the lattice
• Scalar lattice gauge theory
• Singularity at the demise of a black hole
• Emergence of dynamical tensor fields in composite models of gravity
• Parity from gauge symmetry