According to a number of approaches in theoretical physics, spacetime does not exist fundamentally. Rather, spacetime exists by depending on another, more fundamental, non-spatiotemporal structure. A prevalent opinion in the literature is that this dependence should not be analyzed in terms of composition. We should not say, that is, that spacetime depends on an ontology of non-spatiotemporal entities in virtue of having them as parts. But is that really right? On the contrary, we argue that a mereological approach to dependent spacetime is not only viable, but promises to enhance our understanding of the physical situation.

中文翻译：

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组成时空

根据理论物理学的许多方法，时空根本不存在。相反，时空依赖于另一个更基本的非时空结构而存在。文献中的一个普遍观点是，不应根据组成来分析这种依赖性。我们不应该说，时空依赖于非时空实体的本体论，因为它们是部分的。但这真的对吗？相反，我们认为对依赖时空的分体论方法不仅是可行的，而且有望增强我们对物理情况的理解。