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 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 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 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 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.
This paper presents a conceptually economical reinterpretation of wave–particle duality, framing it as a consequence of dimensional projection rather than as a fundamental ontological dualism or an observer-induced collapse. Quantum systems are treated as evolving continuously within a space of effective informational degrees of freedom, while particle-like behavior emerges from restricted lower-dimensional access and irreversible recording. By reclassifying classic experiments—such as double-slit interference, delayed-choice setups, quantum erasers, and automated detection—under this framework, the work highlights that their empirically observed continuous behaviors are more naturally explained by projection and information restriction than by abrupt state reduction. Beyond reinterpretation, the paper introduces a falsifiable experimental criterion—the Dimensional Projection Test (DPT)—which distinguishes projection-based, no-collapse descriptions from genuine collapse models. The DPT predicts a smooth degradation of interference visibility under continuously tuned coupling, whereas any sharp transition would signal objective collapse dynamics. Positioned as complementary to existing collapse-model bounds rather than a competing formalism, the DPT provides an operational lens through which foundational ambiguities can be tested experimentally. Overall, the work clarifies long-standing conceptual confusion without modifying quantum mechanics, offering a disciplined, test-oriented contribution to quantum foundations. Reality does not change when we stop observing; only our access does.
Abstract The double-slit experiment is a classic experiment that presents the clearest manifestation of wave-particle duality, one of the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. The double-slit experiment still remains the phenomenon that demonstrates wave-particle duality at the most fundamental level. This phenomenon quantitatively and conceptually demonstrates that microscopic objects can behave like both waves and particles at the same time. This article provides an in-depth analysis of the physical nature of dualism, the mechanism of formation of the interference pattern, and the impact of the act of observation on the dynamics of quantum systems. The need for a new perspective on this topic is due to the fact that the current uncertainty in the interpretation of quantum reality has not yet been completely eliminated, and the boundaries between classical and quantum behavior in microscopic objects are still being explored. The results presented here restructure the deep mechanisms of the interference picture, more clearly frame the relationship between observation and wavefunction collapse, and provide a quantum. Since the article attempts to provide a complete answer to the mechanism of the formation of wave-particle duality, extensive space is given to sections such as historical development, theoretical models, modern research, etc. New approaches to this phenomenon have been developed using modern research and string theory. As a result, a new mathematical expression has been proposed that explains the reasons for the initial emergence of wave-particle duality, and is also important for string theory. The article explains the measurement problem with a more effective physical structure and ontological model.
Interest in weak values has grown steadily since their introduction in 1988, driven by developments in quantum measurement theory and increasing attention to the foundational issues at the heart of quantum mechanics. This thesis undertakes a philosophical investigation into the nature and implications of weak values, with a particular focus on their interpretation and role in creating and resolving quantum paradoxes. Overall, we argue that sequential weak values offer novel conceptual tools for assessing logical consistency in an atemporal fashion, ultimately motivating a shift toward a fundamentally relation-based ontology. Chapter 1 begins by establishing the conceptual and philosophical foundations of the thesis. We argue that performing this conceptual analysis of weak values requires a philosophical methodology informed by the structure of quantum theory and the foundational questions it poses. In Chapter 2, we provide a critical exploration of weak measurement theory and weak values, outlining their historical foundations and development, the experimental context, and interpretative challenges. Through a detailed analysis of paradoxes related to weak values such as the nested interferometer and the quantum Cheshire cat, the chapter argues that weak values reveal spatiotemporally discontinuous trajectories which conflict with classical intuition about particles and their trajectories. We contend that weak values are inherently contextual, as their significance arises in the context of the pre- and post- selections of the system. Chapter 3 develops an original account of ‘particle presence' across time, building on metaphysical notions of persistence. This chapter proposes a way of recovering continuity in paradoxes such as the three-box gendankenexperiment. Our framework offers a means of assessing the persistence of particles through spacetime via sequential weak values which we argue test the logical consistency of propositions across time. We then explore the implications for temporality, developing the key argument of this chapter: presence is defined across durations of time, rather than in discrete spacetime. This raises the possibility of presence without a well-defined causal order. In Chapter 4, the insights developed in the previous chapters are extended to a consideration of Relational Quantum Mechanics (RQM), addressing the longstanding issue of a lack of intersubjective agreement in relational interpretations. Given RQM's rejection of absolutism, this chapter critiques existing attempts at bridging perspectives and proposes a new route to empirical confirmation grounded in the persistence and reliability of observer's memory records. Our two- step model, consisting of internal confirmation via sequential weak values and then a consistency check from a second observer, offers a new approach to confirmation in RQM without rejecting the non-absolutist core of the interpretation. Sequential weak values are re-interpreted as atemporal probes available to the informational observer, distinct from its physical counterpart. This atemporal nature allows them to establish logical consistency across the observer's records and assign credence to them without presupposing a classical temporal order. These results suggest an ontology grounded in primitive relations, rather than one built on temporally ordered events. Chapter 4 thus builds on the contextuality arguments of earlier chapters: just as weak values reveal measurement outcomes to be context-dependent, their sequential and time-symmetric structure exposes temporal contextuality, challenging classical assumptions about fixed causal order and reinforcing the case for a non-classical, relation-based ontology. Finally, in Chapter 5, we conclude by summarising our key results and giving a list of open questions.