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.
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.
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 paper presents a conceptual reinterpretation of the photon within the Relational Lens framework. While preserving the established mathematics of Maxwell's equations, Special Relativity, and Quantum Electrodynamics, it proposes that the photon is more naturally understood as a delocalized relational process bounded by localized emission and absorption interactions, rather than as a continuously localized object propagating through preexisting spacetime. This relational ontology provides a unified conceptual interpretation of wave-particle duality, interference, quantum measurement, entanglement, the null spacetime interval, and the roles of wavelength, frequency, and energy. The work is interpretive rather than mathematical, offering an alternative ontological perspective that remains fully consistent with established experimental physics while suggesting a broader relational foundation for the emergence of operational spacetime.
Short Abstract This paper reexamines the wave–particle duality of photons and the quantum measurement problem, not as deficiencies in physical laws or mathematical formalism, but as consequences of a conceptual conflation between two different hierarchical levels: existence and observation (record). In conventional quantum theory, wave-like phenomena such as interference and diffraction and discrete detection events have been interpreted within the same conceptual level, leading to the widespread notion that “a photon is both a wave and a particle.” However, this interpretation contains an intrinsic conceptual tension arising from projecting the form of observational results directly onto the mode of existence. In this study, observation is defined as a process in which a portion of an ongoing physical process becomes fixed as a discrete record through interaction with a measuring apparatus. By introducing a clear distinction between existence (continuous processes) and record (discrete outcomes), the photon’s wave nature is reinterpreted as its mode of propagation, while its particle-like character is understood as a property of the detection and recording process. Accordingly, wave–particle duality is not treated as a mysterious property of nature, but as a pseudo-problem produced by mixing descriptive levels. Likewise, wave function collapse and the idea that observation determines reality can be reinterpreted as updates of recorded information rather than physical changes in existence. This paper does not modify the mathematical structure of quantum mechanics; instead, it aims to improve interpretational clarity through conceptual reorganization and proposes a framework contributing to foundational discussions in quantum theory. https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1530-4234 Matsuoka × GPT Thought-Experiment Lab Japanese Abstract 本論文は、フォトンの波動粒子二重性および量子測定問題を、物理法則や数理構造の不備としてではなく、存在と観測(記録)という異なる概念階層の混同から生じた問題として再定式化することを目的とする。従来の量子論では、干渉・回折といった波動的現象と、検出における離散的事象が同一階層で解釈されてきた結果、「フォトンは波でもあり粒子でもある」という二重性概念が定着した。しかしこの理解は、観測結果の形式を存在様式へ直接投影したことに起因する概念的緊張を含んでいる。 本論文では、観測を「物理過程の一部が測定装置によって離散的記録として固定化される過程」と定義し、「存在(連続的過程)」と「記録(離散的結果)」を明確に区別する枠組みを導入する。この枠組みに基づき、フォトンの波動性は伝播過程における存在様式、粒子性は検出・記録過程における表現形式として再定義される。したがって波動粒子二重性は自然界の不可解な性質ではなく、記述階層の混同から生じた擬似問題として理解される。 同様に、量子測定問題における波動関数収縮や「観測が実在を決定する」という描像も、存在変化ではなく記録更新として再解釈可能である。本論文は量子論の数理構造を変更するものではなく、概念的整理を通じて解釈上の透明性を高めることを目的とするものであり、量子論の基礎的議論における一つの枠組みを提示する。
This work proposes a minimal ontological framework for interpreting wave–particle duality as a boundary-sensitive manifestation of quantum phenomena on an underlying, physically real but unobservable background. Rather than treating wave-like and particle-like behaviors as competing physical entities, the framework interprets them as distinct modes of manifestation determined by global boundary conditions. Motivated by interference experiments such as the double-slit setup, the study argues that experimental outcomes depend on boundary-induced modifications of a background structure beyond the local particle path. Within this view, wave-like interference corresponds to a nonlocal manifestation shaped by boundary conditions, while particle-like detection corresponds to localized manifestation events at measurement. The proposed interpretation preserves the standard quantum formalism while offering a realist, boundary-centered conceptual perspective that avoids observer-dependent collapse or multi-path particle propagation. The manuscript is provided as a preprint to invite open scientific discussion and critical evaluation.
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.