Can there be quantum fluctuations without spacetime?

[Suekdccia]

TL;DR Summary

Can quantum fluctuations occur without spacetime, giving a possible explanation for the origin of spacetime and the universe?

There is a paper called "On nothing" (https://arxiv.org/abs/1111.0301) which goes on to argue that the universe could not have arisen from a state without spacetime (as some proposals do using quantum fluctuations to explain how the universe was born without spacetime)

However, there is a recent article that refutes these arguments (https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.13614) in section 2.6

Is that correct? Has the paper been refuted? Can quantum fluctuations occur without spacetime, giving a possible explanation for the origin of spacetime and the universe?

 

[A. Neumaier]

The definition of a quantum fluctuation involves spacetime correlation functions. Thus without spacetime, these correlations and hence quantum fluctuations cannot even be defined.

 

[haushofer]

It all boils down to our understanding of spacetime at the quantum level. Which is imho, regardless of all those good intentions concerning strings and loops, still rather non-existent.

So the first question one should ask in this topic, is: according to which model or hypothesis?