One of the deepest open questions in theoretical physics is whether the smooth geometry of spacetime with its distances, curvature, and gravitational dynamics can emerge from purely quantum-mechanical degrees of freedom. This essay summarises a three-paper series in which that question is studied within a single concrete and exactly solvable model: the binary tree perfect tensor network. Within this model, and subject to clearly stated restrictions, we are able to derive the following from first principles: An exact formula for the entanglement entropy of any boundary region; a two-dimensional hyperbolic geometry with a specific curvature radius; a Lorentzian spacetime metric; a physical notion of time arising from quantum correlations; a Hawking temperature; linearised gravitational field equations; and a maximally chaotic boundary quantum theory. Each step either constitutes a new result specific to this model, or is an application of an established result from the holographic literature, with attribution inboth cases.
Alvaro Lozano Rodriguez (Thu,) studied this question.