Spacetime and large local transformations

Abstract

We argue that the existence of solitons in theories in which local symmetries are spontaneously broken requires spacetime to be enlarged by additional coordinates that are associated with large local transformations. In the context of gravity theories the usual coordinates of spacetime can be thought of arising in this way. E theory automatically contains such an enlarged spacetime. We propose that spacetime appears in an underlying theory when the local symmetries are spontaneously broken.