Emergent causal order and time direction: bridging causal models and tensor networks
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Quantum Physics arXiv:2603.12283 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 5 Mar 2026] Title:Emergent causal order and time direction: bridging causal models and tensor networks Authors:Carla Ferradini, Giulia Mazzola, V. Vilasini View a PDF of the paper titled Emergent causal order and time direction: bridging causal models and tensor networks, by Carla Ferradini and 2 other authors View PDF Abstract:Can the direction of time and the causal structure of space-time be inferred from operational principles? Causal models and tensor networks offer complementary perspectives: the former encodes cause-effect relations via directed graphs, with intrinsic ordering; the latter describes multipartite systems on undirected graphs, without presupposing directionality. We construct two-way mappings between these two frameworks, linking direction agnostic correlation functions and operational notions of signalling. This clarifies the operational meaning of causal influence in tensor networks and introduces discrete "space-time rotations'' of causal models which preserve signalling relations. Applying our framework to holographic tensor networks, we use tools from causal inference, like graph-separation, to analyse emergent causal structures. By permitting cyclic and indefinite causal structures, our results enable transfer of techniques across tensor networks and a range of causality frameworks. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th) Cite as: arXiv:2603.12283 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2603.12283v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2603.12283 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Submission history From: Carla Ferradini [view email] [v1] Thu, 5 Mar 2026 17:06:37 UTC (81 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Emergent causal order and time direction: bridging causal models and tensor networks, by Carla Ferradini and 2 other authorsView PDFTeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-03 Change to browse by: hep-th References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)