A bstract The matrix models are non-perturbative formulations of string theory, from which many believe that spacetime arises. The matrix fluctuations around the spacetime thus created should represent both matter and gravitational fields. In this paper, we discuss how the gravitational field emerges from the IIB matrix model. In particular, we consider how diffeomorphism invariance arises and how unitarity is guaranteed in this theory. Specifically, we consider matrices as bilocal fields and discuss how the Lorentz-invariant vacuum and low-energy excitations around it can be expressed. We then discuss how the conditions for the theory to be unitary can be written in terms of bilocal fields. We argue that in the low-energy limit, the bilocal fields are reduced to local fields consisting of a finite number of massless fields and an infinite number of massive fields, satisfying unitarity.
Ho et al. (Thu,) studied this question.