The Macroscopic Nature of Space-Time

Abstract

Current interpretations of quantum mechanics suggest that the classical concepts of space and time are not applicable to microscopic systems. Salecker and Wigner have recently proved that these concepts have no operational meaning for microsystems. Therefore, space-time descriptions may be valid only for macroscopic systems. It is here suggested that space and time themselves arise from, but do not have analogs in, the properties of microscopic particles, in the same way that thermodynamic properties arise as a result of interactions among the many actually existing particles of the universe. Neither the particles nor the interactions need to be described in spatial-temporal terms. This macroscopic interpretation of space-time seems compatible with the known properties of the physical world, suggests a more direct interpretation of the statistical nature of microscopic events, and offers a new approach to some physical problems.