The duality of matter and radiation is traditionally framed as an intrinsic paradox of quantum systems. In part I, we propose it can be reinterpreted as a relational observer dependant-relative phe- nomenon. This relational resolution of wave–particle duality aligns with foundational experiments of quantum theory. The wave/particle behavior emerges from observer’s relative velocity/position with respect to the quantum entity under observation. The wave nature is precived by a rest- observer co-moving with the entity under observation. The particle nature is the relative view of a non co-moving observer with non-zero relative velocity. Part-II Provides compelling evidence supporting the part-I claim. We revisit two foundational experiments–the Davisson–Germer electron scattering experiment (1927) and the Merli–Missiroli– Pozzi (MMP) biprism interference experiment (1976). By re-examining the conditions under which interference patterns emerge, it is argued that wave-particle duality behavior is not intrinsic to individual particles but arises from coherent ensembles of monoenergetic, indistinguishable quantum entities. This interpretation challenges conventional quantum narratives and offers a physically grounded and testable alternative to wave–particle duality. Part III Discusses Measurement, Superposition, and Apparatus Coupling. We argue that the uneasy nature of the epistemological conclusions of quantum mechanics may be rectified under relational resolution. We conclude that any quantum relational interaction can be interpreted as a superposition of ”initial” states in ”space” and superposition of ”final” states in ”time”, and together they form a superposition in ”spacetime”.
The duality of matter and radiation is traditionally framed as an intrinsic paradox of quantum systems. In part I, we propose it can be reinterpreted as a relational observer dependant-relative phe- nomenon. This relational resolution of wave–particle duality aligns with foundational experiments of quantum theory. The wave/particle behavior emerges from observer’s relative velocity/position with respect to the quantum entity under observation. The wave nature is precived by a rest- observer co-moving with the entity under observation. The particle nature is the relative view of a non co-moving observer with non-zero relative velocity. Part-II Provides compelling evidence supporting the part-I claim. We revisit two foundational experiments–the Davisson–Germer electron scattering experiment (1927) and the Merli–Missiroli– Pozzi (MMP) biprism interference experiment (1976). By re-examining the conditions under which interference patterns emerge, it is argued that wave-particle duality behavior is not intrinsic to individual particles but arises from coherent ensembles of monoenergetic, indistinguishable quantum entities. This interpretation challenges conventional quantum narratives and offers a physically grounded and testable alternative to wave–particle duality. Part III Discusses Measurement, Superposition, and Apparatus Coupling. We argue that the uneasy nature of the epistemological conclusions of quantum mechanics may be rectified under relational resolution. We conclude that any quantum relational interaction can be interpreted as a superposition of ”initial” states in ”space” and superposition of ”final” states in ”time”, and together they form a superposition in ”spacetime”.
Any physical experiment must be described relationally consistent: observations are always made from a reference frame that is either co-moving with the system under study (zero relative velocity) or moving with respect to it (non-zero relative velocity). This applies equally whether the observer is associated with the entity under observation (e.g. an electron beam) or with the apparatus (e.g. a detector).a These are the only possible relational viewpoints, and consistency requires that one such viewpoint be maintained from the initial to the final stage of the experiment. The observer must either remain at rest relative to the apparatus or remain at rest relative to the particles, but cannot switch relational roles midway. Failure to maintain this consistency introduces interpretational difficulties that are often taken to reflect the “dual” nature of matter and radiation. In the initial stage of the double-slit experiment, the observer is implicitly treated as co-moving with the incoming electron beam, effectively assigning zero relative velocity between observer and electrons. However, in the final stage at the detection screen, the same observer is implicitly assumed to have a zero relative velocity with respect to the detector. The implicit assumption that the observer of the experiment can simultaneously be co-moving with the detector, and co-moving with the electrons, is the inconsistency. The relational viewpoint is changed between the initial and final parts of the same experiment without explicit justification. This inconsistency in the choice of relational reference frame constitutes the conceptual cause of the conclusion traditionally expressed as the wave–particle duality. I conclude this is the relational resolution to the mysterious ”wave– particle” duality of matter and radiation. The Wave-Particle Duality has always been framed as the intrinsic mystery of quantum physics. I revisit two foundational experiments–the Davisson–Germer electron scattering experiment (1927) and the Merli–Missiroli–Pozzi (MMP) biprism interference experiment (1976). I provide compelling evidence for a unified physically grounded relational resolution for that perplexing mystery. By analyzing the conditions under which interference patterns emerge, it is argued that wave-particle duality is not intrinsic to individual particles but arises from coherent ensembles of monoenergetic, indistinguishable quantum entities. The wave nature is precived by a rest-observer co-moving with the entity under observation. The particle nature is the relative view of a non co-moving observer with non-zero relative velocity. This interpretation challenges conventional mechanism and quantum narratives.
This project presents a conceptual reinterpretation of wave–particle phenomena in quantum experiments by introducing a relational-temporal perspective on measurement and event formation. Rather than treating wave-like and particle-like behavior as competing ontological properties of quantum entities, the framework distinguishes between extended relational amplitude structures and localized measurement events. Interference phenomena are interpreted as manifestations of relational structures distributed across spacetime, while particle detections are understood as temporally stabilized events emerging through measurement interactions. By reviewing key experimental paradigms—including double-slit interference, which-path experiments, quantum erasers, weak measurements, and decoherence—the study demonstrates that many apparent paradoxes of quantum mechanics arise from classical assumptions about intrinsic properties and time as an external background parameter. Without modifying the formalism of quantum theory, the relational-temporal interpretation offers a physically conservative framework that reframes wave–particle duality as a distinction between structure and event rather than a dual ontology of physical objects.
This review paper examines foundational quantum experiments—such as the double-slit experiment, quantum erasers, weak measurements, and decoherence studies—through the lens of relational temporality. Rather than interpreting wave–particle duality as evidence for two competing ontological states, the paper proposes a conceptual shift: experimental results are better understood as distinguishing between relational structures extended across time and localized events that emerge through temporal fixation during measurement. By treating time as a relational process and measurement as a temporally constitutive interaction, several well-known paradoxes in quantum foundations can be reinterpreted without modifying the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics. The review integrates insights from quantum theory, dynamical systems, and relational models of time to propose a coherent framework in which interference phenomena reflect temporally distributed relational structures, while particle-like detections correspond to stabilized events. This perspective suggests that many conceptual difficulties in quantum mechanics arise not from the theory itself but from classical assumptions about objects, intrinsic properties, and time as a passive background.
This thesis is a study about the insights and challenges provided by the concept of wave-
particle duality for the understanding of physical entities. I specifically analyse the duality
claim of photons and the related interference phenomena. To begin, I explore several
notions of duality found in mathematics and various branches of science and present the
similarities and differences amidst them. After this, with regard to wave-particle duality of
radiation, I highlight the plurality associated with this concept based on a few important
interpretations of duality. I then focus on the wave-particle duality claim about photons
articulated in the context of two experiments: the anti-correlation experiment and photons’
behaviour in the Mach-Zehnder interferometer experiment. I argue that this claim can
neither be substantiated through the complementarity principle nor by claiming that
photons behave analogously to classical waves and particles. This detailed examination
of the experiments brings to the forefront yet another confusion about photons that
I subsequently evaluate. I discuss the controversy concerning the interpretation of the
interference phenomenon of photons and identify the sources of this confusion. Through
these arguments and conclusions drawn in this thesis, I demonstrate how philosophical
analysis is crucial for the understanding of scientific entities.
We propose a novel interpretation of quantum mechanics based on the hypothesis that quantum entities possess two ontologically distinct components—particle and wave—that couple to spacetime through fundamentally different mechanisms. The particle component interacts with spacetime through conventional local, causal coupling, while the wave component exists on a topological plane structurally linked to spacetime's global geometric properties. This dual-mode coupling framework offers intuitive explanations for wave-particle duality, measurement-induced decoherence, quantum interference, and non-local correlations without invoking wavefunction collapse or observer-dependent reality. We outline the conceptual foundations, discuss how this framework resolves longstanding quantum paradoxes, and propose potential experimental tests.
This paper proposes a conceptual reinterpretation of the wave–particle duality by introducing a relational and temporally emergent perspective on measurement and physical properties. Instead of treating waves and particles as competing ontological categories, the study argues that they represent different relational realizations of the same underlying process. Wave descriptions capture relational structures extending across time and space, while particle descriptions correspond to localized events generated through temporally fixing measurement interactions. By reframing measurement as a form of temporal coordination rather than passive observation, the article suggests that the apparent paradox of wave–particle duality emerges from classical assumptions about objects and time. The proposed framework situates quantum phenomena within a broader relational ontology in which time, events, and structures arise through interaction. This perspective aims to clarify conceptual foundations of quantum theory without modifying its formalism, while also highlighting parallels between coordination processes in physical, biological, and social systems.