Measuring spatial distances in causal sets via causal overlaps

Causal set theory is perhaps the most minimalistic approach to quantum gravity, in the sense that it makes next to zero assumptions about the structure of spacetime below the Planck scale. Yet even with this minimalism, the continuum limit is still a major challenge in causal sets. One aspect of this challenge is the measurement of distances in causal sets. While the definition and estimation of timelike distances is relatively straightforward, dealing with spacelike distances is much more problematic. Here we introduce an approach to measure distances between spacelike separated events based on their causal overlap. We show that the distance estimation errors in this approach vanish in the continuum limit even for the smallest distances of the order of the Planck length. These results are expected to inform the causal set geometrogenesis in general, and in particular the development of evolving causal set models in which space emerges from causal dynamics.