This article presents an ontological interpretation of quantum fields, arguing that light and correlation form the foundational processes through which physical reality emerges. By shifting the focus from particle‑based metaphysics to relational and field‑based structures, the work explores how coherence, interaction, and the dynamics of correlation generate the phenomena we describe as ‘reality’. The article integrates conceptual analysis with insights from quantum field theory to propose a unified ontological framework.
This article presents an ontological interpretation of quantum fields, arguing that light and correlation form the foundational processes through which physical reality emerges. By shifting the focus from particle‑based metaphysics to relational and field‑based structures, the work explores how coherence, interaction, and the dynamics of correlation generate the phenomena we describe as ‘reality’. The article integrates conceptual analysis with insights from quantum field theory to propose a unified ontological framework.
This submission presents a theoretical perspective on quantum phenomena, introducing the concept of a Photon-Primary Ontology. In this framework, photons (light) constitute the fundamental reality of the universe, while particles such as electrons, quarks, and composite matter emerge as derivative states from photon interactions. Space is treated solely as a geometric background, and the ontological existence of quantum fields is not assumed, although quantum field theory remains valid as a computational tool. The approach is grounded in experimental observations, such as electron-positron pair production from photon collisions, and emphasizes a minimal ontological interpretation where photons are primary and particles are emergent. This perspective provides an alternative conceptual foundation for understanding quantum processes without invoking fields as fundamental entities.
This preprint presents a field-first interpretation of wave-particle duality grounded in the ontology of Quantum Field Theory (QFT). The framework treats quantum fields as the fundamental ontology of physical reality, while particles are understood as excitation states of their respective fields. Wave-like phenomena, including interference, diffraction, tunneling, and coherence effects, are interpreted as arising from the propagation and interaction dynamics of these excitations rather than from an independent wave ontology. The central thesis is that wave-particle duality does not represent two distinct physical realities, but rather different observational regimes of a single field-based process. Localized interactions appear particle-like, while propagation and interference phenomena appear wave-like. This interpretation is fully consistent with the existing mathematical formalism of Quantum Field Theory and does not introduce new physical laws or modifications to established quantum mechanics. The purpose of this work is interpretive and conceptual. It aims to provide a clearer ontological framework for understanding the relationship between quantum fields, particles, and wave-like behavior while reducing the conceptual ambiguity traditionally associated with wave-particle duality. This document represents the initial preprint release of the field-first interpretation framework.
The Relational Physics Manifesto introduces a new ontological framework for understanding physical reality by replacing object‑based metaphysics with a structure‑first, continuity‑driven model of existence. It argues that the fundamental constituents of the universe are not particles or fields, but relational configurations shaped by continuity, identity, collapse, and curvature. The manifesto outlines how classical and quantum phenomena emerge from these structural primitives, critiques the limitations of object ontology, and proposes a unified relational manifold as the foundation for future theoretical development. Positioned at the intersection of physics and metaphysics, the manifesto serves as a conceptual declaration of a new direction for foundational research, offering a coherent structural alternative to traditional assumptions while inviting further mathematical formalization.
This article is the first part of a three-part series developing Ontological Field Theory (OFT), a unified framework grounding quantum mechanics in foundational ontological principles. The trilogy is structured as follows: Part I — Conceptual Necessity:Why Quantum Mechanics Is Inevitable: Ontological Continuity and the Necessity of Quantum Dynamics establishes that quantum mechanics follows necessarily from minimal requirements on coherent being, independently of specific physical postulates. Part II — Technical Realization:Derivation of the Schrödinger Equation from Ontological Field Theory provides the explicit field-theoretic derivation showing how the Schrödinger equation emerges as the non-relativistic limit of a covariant ontological field. Part III — Critical Context:Why Classical Physics Is an Approximation: Decoherence, Coarse-Graining, and the Limits of Determinism explains why classical determinism and trajectories arise only as emergent, approximate descriptions of fundamentally quantum and relational dynamics. Each article is logically self-contained, but the full argument is distributed across the three contributions. The conceptual analysis motivates the mathematics; the mathematics grounds the physics; and the critical examination situates classical intuition as a limiting case rather than a foundation. The papers are intended to be read as a coherent whole. We argue that quantum mechanics is not an arbitrary empirical framework but an inevitable consequence of minimal ontological requirements. Assuming only that being must exist necessarily, remain consistent, be relational, and admit self-reference, we show that classical deterministic physics is structurally insufficient. Quantum dynamics emerges as the unique low-energy realization of coherent ontological continuity. This work complements explicit field-theoretic derivations by clarifying why quantum mechanics could not have been otherwise.
Generative Continuum Ontology (GCO) proposes that existence is ontologically fundamental and intrinsically generative, with objects, structures, laws, space, time, and other features of reality understood as organizational forms disclosed within organizational regimes rather than as fundamental ontological primitives. While contemporary physics has achieved extraordinary empirical success, several foundational questions—including the quantum measurement problem, wave-particle duality, quantum entanglement, the emergence of classical reality, and the ontological status of physical laws and spacetime—remain subjects of ongoing conceptual debate. This paper investigates whether these longstanding conceptual difficulties can be reinterpreted through the ontological framework of GCO. Rather than proposing modifications to the mathematical formalism of established physical theories, it offers ontological reinterpretations intended to clarify how physical reality may become organized through stabilization, self-emergent constraints, and organizational path dependence within an intrinsically generative existence. From this perspective, quantum and classical descriptions are understood not as competing realities but as different organizational forms disclosed through different organizational regimes. The objective is not to replace existing physical theories, but to provide a coherent ontological framework within which their conceptual foundations may be interpreted. By distinguishing between mathematical description, physical explanation, and ontological grounding, the paper argues that many foundational problems arise not from deficiencies in physics itself, but from assumptions concerning the ontological status of objects, relations, laws, space, and time. GCO therefore offers a unified ontological perspective through which these concepts may be understood as organizational forms disclosed through organizational regimes associated with the intrinsic generative capacity (Φ) of existence.
One of the foundational challenges in both Quantum Field Theory and the philosophy of physics lies in the traditional binary classification of entities as either real or unreal. The classical view posits that material entities are real, while mental constructs or theoretical entities are unreal. However, quantum phenomena such as virtual particles challenge this simplistic dichotomy. These unobservable entities, by influencing measurable phenomena, raise profound questions about the nature and modes of existence. To address this, we propose a four-level ontological hierarchy that spans from the quantum vacuum and the virtual level to the quantum level and phenomenal reality, providing a coherent continuum from potentiality to actualization. This framework not only clarifies the interpretation of quantum theory but also offers a unified perspective linking the unobservable with the observable. In QFT, virtual particles play a crucial role in mediating forces and in correcting the measurable properties of real particles. They arise within the mathematical structure of Feynman diagrams and, despite being unobservable, produce real, measurable effects such as the Lamb shift and the Casimir effect. Philosophically, this raises deep ontological questions: if unobservable entities affect measurable phenomena, can they truly be dismissed as unreal? Conversely, if they are real, what mode of existence do they possess? The traditional dichotomy of real versus unreal is thus insufficient for interpreting the ontological implications of quantum processes. To overcome these limitations, we propose a four-level ontological hierarchy.