Much of modern physics is built upon the assumption that quantum systems are closed and embedded in a 'causal background' that fixes rigid spatial and temporal relationships between causes and their effects. Not only are these assumptions open to challenge, but arguably they have inhibited scientific progress.
By applying the tools of philosophy and physics, we will consider how interconnected approaches to quantum systems, including the universe as a whole, can be understood to be neither closed nor embedded in a fixed causal background. We will answer fundamental questions about the nature of quantum causality, the emergence of temporal directionality, and the structure of cosmology by developing a framework for open quantum systems without fixed causal structure.
Our activities are interdisciplinary and multi-method, combining foundational, philosophical, experimental and formal approaches. Our team of philosophers, mathematicians, and physicists will explore open quantum systems, conduct experiments on indefinite causal structures, conduct numerical and analytic case studies of open systems quantum master equations, establish new approaches to quantum cosmology, and make novel contributions to the metaphysics of science.
We plan to produce at least 32 peer-reviewed articles addressing our key research questions, hold a series of major research and outreach events, and inspire a new more integrated approach to interdisciplinary collaboration between philosophers and physicists. The project will reshape quantum foundations, unify approaches to open classical and quantum systems, develop novel quantum cosmology models, and reorient metaphysical debates with cutting-edge scientific insights into the fundamental nature of reality.
