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A bstract Asymptotically nonlocal field theories interpolate between Lee-Wick theories with multiple propagator poles, and ghost-free nonlocal theories. Previous work on asymp- totically nonlocal scalar, Abelian, and non-Abelian gauge theories has demonstrated the existence of an emergent regulator scale that is hierarchically smaller than the lightest Lee-Wick partner, in a limit where the Lee-Wick spectrum becomes dense and decoupled. We generalize this construction to linearized gravity, and demonstrate the emergent regula- tor scale in three examples: by studying the resolution of the singularity (i) at the origin in the classical solution for the metric of a point particle, and (ii) in the nonrelativistic gravitational potential computed via a one-graviton exchange amplitude; (iii) we also show how this derived scale regulates the one-loop graviton contribution to the self energy of a real scalar field. We comment briefly on the generalization of our approach to the full, nonlinear theory of gravity. 

It is possible that both the classical description of spacetime and the rules of quantum field theory emerge from a more-fundamental structure of physical law. Pregeometric frameworks transfer some of the puzzles of quantum gravity to a semiclassical arena where those puzzles pose less of a challenge. However, in order to provide a satisfactory description of quantum gravity, a semiclassical description must emerge and contain in its description a macroscopic spacetime geometry, dynamical matter, and a gravitational interaction consistent with general relativity at long distances. In this essay, we argue that a framework that includes a stochastic origin for quantum field theory can provide both the emergence of classical spacetime and a quantized gravitational interaction.