Applied Physics Research

A Dynamical Origin of Wave-Particle Duality From Stochastic Mass-Energy Interconversion

Rudolph Elliot Willis

Published Apr 8, 2026• 0 citations

Abstract

Wave-particle duality remains one of the most striking and conceptually unresolved features of quantum mechanics. Here I present a dynamical mechanism for wave-particle duality based on spontaneous stochastic mass-energy interconversion at subatomic scales. By promoting particle mass to a fluctuating quantity consistent with Einstein’s mass-energy equivalence, I derive a Schrödinger equation with an additional stochastic kinetic-phase term. Applied to the canonical double-slit experiment, the framework shows that quantum interference arises from coherent, path-dependent phase accumulation driven by mass-energy fluctuations, while particle-like localization emerges naturally at detection. The formalism yields closed-form expressions for interference visibility, predicts a momentum- and mass-dependent decoherence rate, admits a path-integral interpretation, and enables direct experimental bounds using neutron, electron, and atom interferometry. The results provide a physically grounded account of wave-particle duality without modifying the axioms of quantum mechanics.

DOI: 10.5539/apr.v18n1p67

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