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What do random surfaces have to do with space and time?About three hundred years ago Isaac Newton wrote down rules describing the mechanics of moving objects. He also described gravity as a force that pulls massive objects together. We call this Newtonian physics.We now know that Newtonian physics is really only an approximation that works well in almost every situation that we encounter in everyday life. However, Newtonian physics doesn't work at very small scales (like electrons and atoms) and with very large masses (like stars). In the first case we use a theory called quantum mechanics and in the second case we use a theory called relativity (which gives a theory of gravity). Both quantum mechanics and relativity are very successful theories. However, the area where they meet - small scale structure near large masses - is not yet understood. This area is called quantum gravity and one possible theory has to do with random surfaces and this is called simplicial quantum gravity.
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