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Two Conflicting Pictures Of Space
- Quantum mechanics treats space as a fixed backdrop filled with fields that oscillate at each location.
- General relativity treats spacetime as a dynamic, curved manifold that tells mass how to move.
Quantum Fields Live On Space, Time Evolves Them
- Quantum field theory places fields on space as numerical values at every point and evolves them in time.
- Time in quantum mechanics often behaves differently than space and is treated as an external parameter.
Relativity Allows Spacetime To Begin
- General relativity allows spacetime to have a beginning and to curve, so time need not be infinite.
- That differs sharply from naive quantum views where time can be run backward or forward indefinitely.