An Atomic View of Spacetime

The lecture explores whether spacetime is continuous at every scale or consists of fundamental discrete elements. Building on Einstein’s theory of general relativity, it examines how the classical description of spacetime breaks down in extreme settings such as the Big Bang and black holes, motivating the search for a theory of quantum gravity. Dr. Sumati Surya will introduce causal set theory, an approach pioneered by Rafael Sorkin that proposes spacetime emerges from a discrete collection of events connected by causal order. The lecture will discuss whether space can emerge from causal relationships, whether spacetime is continuous all the way down, and how causality and discreteness may help construct a theory of quantum gravity. Dr. Sumati Surya is Senior Professor of Theoretical Physics at Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru. Her research has focused on causal set theory and its applications to quantum gravity for over two decades.