We propose an ontological reformulation of quantum mechanics based on a fundamental distinction between static states and dissipative processes. Static states are time‑independent configurations of charge or matter density, devoid of internal dynamics. Dissipative processes, in contrast, involve real changes in density, energy loss, and irreversibility. This distinction enables a coherent and realistic reinterpretation of electronic orbitals, spin, atomic transitions, nuclear decay, tunneling, and entanglement. We show that every emission or absorption event requires dissipation, and that in an ensemble of excited systems the number of ideal observable transitions is always smaller than the number of initially excited systems. We extend the framework to nuclear structure and quantum correlations, highlighting the conceptual continuity of the theory and its compatibility with the thermodynamics of information.
We propose an ontological reformulation of quantum mechanics based on a fundamental distinction between static states and dissipative processes. Static states are time‑independent configurations of charge or matter density, devoid of internal dynamics. Dissipative processes, in contrast, involve real changes in density, energy loss, and irreversibility. This distinction enables a coherent and realistic reinterpretation of electronic orbitals, spin, atomic transitions, nuclear decay, tunneling, and entanglement. We show that every emission or absorption event requires dissipation, and that in an ensemble of excited systems the number of ideal observable transitions is always smaller than the number of initially excited systems. We extend the framework to nuclear structure and quantum correlations, highlighting the conceptual continuity of the theory and its compatibility with the thermodynamics of information.
This work proposes a conceptual and ontological reformulation of classical dynamics, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics based on a single postulate: dissipation is a fundamental property of all physical processes. Traditional dynamics relies on the idealization of isolated, reversible systems, yet no real physical system satisfies such conditions. By introducing an intrinsic dissipative energy term into the equations of motion, we suggest that dissipation entails an irreversible loss of physical information, from which a classical uncertainty principle naturally follows. Stationary states are reinterpreted as zero‑dissipation configurations, lacking internal temporal evolution, thereby offering an ontological basis for quantization, non‑locality, and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Quantum mechanics can thus be viewed as the mathematical description of these stationary states and of the dissipative transitions connecting them. The framework is conceptually consistent with fluctuation‑dissipation theory, open‑system quantum dynamics, decoherence theory, and relaxation phenomena in NMR spectroscopy. Several experimental proposals are outlined to discriminate this ontological model from both classical mechanics and standard quantum mechanics.
This work develops a process–event ontological framework for quantum theory, with particular emphasis on information, collapse, and the energetic cost of realization. The central claim is that quantum mechanics formally describes physical processes—coherent, continuous, and reversible in principle—while information, records, and outcomes arise only at the level of events, through irreversible physical realization. Within this framework, collapse is redefined not as a dynamical anomaly, but as the physical realization of a process into an event. Information is not treated as a primary entity or carrier, but as a stabilized physical imprint of events, necessarily involving energy dissipation. The framework reinterprets Landauer’s principle as a cost of record stabilization rather than bit erasure, clarifies the ontological status of qubits as energetically maintained process states, and resolves standard measurement paradoxes without modifying the formalism of quantum mechanics. This work operates at a meta-level: it does not propose new dynamics or interpretations, but explicitly delineates the boundary between quantum processes and realized events.
Quantum mechanics is often regarded as paradoxical or incomplete due to the imposition of a classical ontology that is not suited to its domain. This paper proposes a reinterpretation based on the notion of contextual coherence, in which the quantum state is not an intrinsic property but a relational configuration dependent on interaction conditions. Measurement is thus understood as a regime transition characterized by phase fixation and the dispersion of coherence into the environment. Within this framework, the Résonon is introduced as a minimal conceptual unit articulating energy, information, and temporal phase. It does not constitute a new physical entity but serves as a theoretical tool to express the internal logic of coherence transitions. This approach allows for a reformulation of superposition, contextuality, and decoherence without invoking additional assumptions such as many worlds or hidden variables. Finally, the paper opens an epistemological dialogue with operative knowledge systems such as Ifá, highlighting a convergence around the notion of preparing reality. Quantum mechanics thus emerges as a theory of coherence regimes in transition, where reality stabilizes through contextual configurations rather than as a set of pre-existing objects.
We propose a unified ontological framework in which the fundamental distinction is not between quantum states and dynamical processes, but between static configurations with no internal current and dissipative processes characterized by energy loss and irreversibility. Static states describe atomic orbitals, nuclear levels, spin, entangled states, and metastable configurations, whereas every real transition—emission, absorption, decay, tunneling, measurement—requires a dissipative channel (Breuer & Petruccione 2002; Weiss 2012). We extend the framework to black holes, interpreted as surfaces of total dissipation: at the horizon, the cost of the links of the physical network diverges, preventing any internal dynamics and producing ontological demolition. The emitted radiation is generated by external dissipative relaxation, not from the interior (Hawking 1975; Unruh 1976), and carries sub‑threshold information. We show that in this scheme wormholes cannot emerge, since the internal region lacks topology, space, and time. Gravity emerges as a deformation of minimal paths in the external network, while dark energy is interpreted as dissipative metastability of the links. The framework provides a coherent conceptual basis for atomic, nuclear, gravitational, and cosmological phenomena, in continuity with our previous ScienceOpen publications dedicated to dissipation as the foundation of microscopic physics (Bornacin 2026a, 2026b, 2026c).
Deriving the laws of thermodynamics from an underlying microscopic picture is a central quest of statistical mechanics. The present article focuses on the derivation of the first and second law of thermodynamics for closed and open quantum systems, where such foundational questions in addition become practically relevant for emergent nanotechnologies. Recent progress is presented in a self-contained way, with an emphasis on general ideas and useful tools instead of particular applications. We identify limits and conceptual shortcomings of previous approaches. Then, we propose a novel, unifying perspective, which starts from a microscopic definition of nonequilibrium thermodynamic entropy. The change of this entropy is identified with the entropy production, which satisfies a fluctuation theorem for a large class of initial states. Moreover, this entropy production can be naturally separated into a quantum and a classical component. Within our framework, we introduce the notions of recoverable work and remaining heat. In the case of a weakly perturbed ideal thermal bath this approach is in quantitative agreement with previous ones, thus ensuring their thermodynamic consistency.
Reviewing macroscopic quantum phenomena and quantum dissipation, from the phenomenology of magnetism and superconductivity to the presentation of alternative models for quantum dissipation, this book develops the basic material necessary to understand the quantum dynamics of macroscopic variables. Macroscopic quantum phenomena are presented through several examples in magnetism and superconductivity, developed from general phenomenological approaches to each area. Dissipation naturally plays an important role in these phenomena, and therefore semi-empirical models for quantum dissipation are introduced and applied to the study of a few important quantum mechanical effects. The book also discusses the relevance of macroscopic quantum phenomena to the control of meso- or nanoscopic devices, particularly those with potential applications in quantum computation or quantum information. It is ideal for graduate students and researchers.