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Hmm .. Steven .. just been doing some reading up … it seems that a basic difference between GR and QM/QFT is that GR theory is not dependent on any preferred type of space-time (ie: no frame of reference is 'special' over another), hence it is regarded as a 'background independent' theory.
In QM/QFT, however, the properties of the elementary particles have to do with their relationships to the state of the 'background' vacuum. Ie: the vacuum has different states which ultimately gives rise to the different properties of the elementary particles: ie: mass, position, momentum, spin, and charge.
Hence QFT is called a 'background dependent theory'.
If so, I think I can get this ..
Cheers
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