The mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics has achieved tremendous success, yet its ontological foundations — including the essence of the wave function, the mechanism behind the measurement problem, and the origin of nonlocal correlations — have long remained unresolved. This paper proposes the fundamental field theory, which takes the complex field \Psi as the basic degree of freedom satisfying the standard bosonic commutation relation [\hat{\Psi}, \hat{\Psi}^\dagger] = \delta. Starting from this commutation relation, we derive the uncertainty principle and establish the action of the fundamental field. The Schrödinger equation is obtained under the non-relativistic limit. We explain the measurement problem and present the dynamical equation for wave function collapse via the trigger perturbation mechanism. Meanwhile, quantum entanglement is interpreted based on the nonlocal nature of the fundamental field. This paper also conducts a comparative analysis between the proposed model, the GRW model and the Penrose model, and puts forward four experimentally testable theoretical predictions. This manuscript serves as a companion to the classical branch focusing on S³ topological dynamics. The two papers jointly form a full theoretical description of physical systems. The S³ topological domain manuscript focuses on classical and semiclassical topics such as cosmology, gravitational waves and power laws of the four fundamental interactions, while this work centers on quantum mechanics fundamentals, measurement collapse and quantum entanglement. The two manuscripts are interconnected through the \Psi-\lambda mapping. The fundamental field theory does not negate quantum mechanics; instead, it complements quantum mechanics with a complete ontological foundation.
The mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics has achieved tremendous success, yet its ontological foundations — including the essence of the wave function, the mechanism behind the measurement problem, and the origin of nonlocal correlations — have long remained unresolved. This paper proposes the fundamental field theory, which takes the complex field \Psi as the basic degree of freedom satisfying the standard bosonic commutation relation [\hat{\Psi}, \hat{\Psi}^\dagger] = \delta. Starting from this commutation relation, we derive the uncertainty principle and establish the action of the fundamental field. The Schrödinger equation is obtained under the non-relativistic limit. We explain the measurement problem and present the dynamical equation for wave function collapse via the trigger perturbation mechanism. Meanwhile, quantum entanglement is interpreted based on the nonlocal nature of the fundamental field. This paper also conducts a comparative analysis between the proposed model, the GRW model and the Penrose model, and puts forward four experimentally testable theoretical predictions. This manuscript serves as a companion to the classical branch focusing on S³ topological dynamics. The two papers jointly form a full theoretical description of physical systems. The S³ topological domain manuscript focuses on classical and semiclassical topics such as cosmology, gravitational waves and power laws of the four fundamental interactions, while this work centers on quantum mechanics fundamentals, measurement collapse and quantum entanglement. The two manuscripts are interconnected through the \Psi-\lambda mapping. The fundamental field theory does not negate quantum mechanics; instead, it complements quantum mechanics with a complete ontological foundation.
This article is the second part of a three-paper sequence developing Ontological Field Theory (OFT) as 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.
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.
This work derives the fundamental framework of quantum mechanics intrinsically from the first-principle axioms of UD duality theory. Starting from the inherent binary expansive–condensative attributes of the UD ontology, four fundamental physical fields are naturally decomposed by spontaneous symmetry breaking across spatial and material existential domains. A two-component complex spinor structure is uniquely constructed, and the imaginary unit i is proven to be not merely a mathematical convention but a structurally necessary ingredient required by both the compact SU(2) symmetry and the orthogonal inter-containment of U and D attributes. Within the flat spacetime limit of the UD gravitational action, a system of coupled Klein–Gordon field equations is established, governed by a single self-consistent fundamental mass scale m₀=1/(2πe^π) with no adjustable free parameters. The coupling constant is determined analytically from the UD vacuum equilibrium background values and the U↔D duality symmetry. Through explicit construction of four-component Dirac spinors and auxiliary field decomposition, the on-shell equivalence between the UD coupled field equations and the free Dirac equation is rigorously demonstrated. The non-relativistic limit further recovers the Pauli equation and the Schrödinger equation sequentially, reconstructing the core dynamical equations of quantum mechanics from a unified foundational origin. Global U(1) phase invariance of the UD action is verified via total-derivative decomposition, yielding the standard Noether conserved current. The Born probability interpretation is deduced directly from the global normalization axiom by isolating localized laboratory-scale excitations from the cosmic background, eliminating the need for independent quantum postulates. Based on the intrinsic properties of the UD field components, a self-consistent ontological interpretation is provided for wave–particle duality, double-slit interference, and the quantum measurement problem. In this framework, the measurement problem is dissolved rather than solved: no collapse postulate is required, and determinism is restored at the ontological level. The theory naturally implies that the continuous D_U field permits quantum superposition, while condensed D_D intrinsic entities possess definite classicality without physical particle-state superposition. Three testable theoretical predictions are presented, establishing falsifiable physical consequences of the UD quantum formulation. This paper completes the intrinsic derivation of the foundational structure of quantum mechanics from UD theory. Together with the previously derived general relativity framework, it realizes the homologous unification of gravity and quantum mechanics within a single self-contained axiomatic system.
Standard quantum mechanics requires six independent axioms of the Copenhagen interpretation, all formulated in a non-relativistic framework lacking Lorentz invariance and thus fundamentally inconsistent with Minkowski spacetime. This paper argues that the measurement problem, wave-function collapse, Schrödinger's cat, and the non-locality of entanglement share a common root: non-relativistic quantum mechanics is an approximation of a more fundamental theory, and interpretations built upon an approximation cannot be fully correct. We propose Spacetime Wave Quantum Theory (SWQ theory), which takes Minkowski spacetime as its sole geometric premise and proceeds from two axioms: Axiom 1 (Quantum nature): A quantum exists in spacetime with finite extent and behaves as a wave whose action changes only in discrete multiples of h. Axiom 2 (Superposition principle): Superposition on multiple paths holds if and only if no difference arises in the state of external quanta between those paths — a purely physical condition with no role for observer consciousness. From these two axioms, the Klein–Gordon and Dirac equations are derived directly, with the Schrödinger equation recovered as their non-relativistic limit. The six Copenhagen axioms are replaced by two. Central concept — the Spacetime Action Packet (SAP): Every quantum occupies a finite four-dimensional spacetime region. For energy E, the temporal thickness satisfies Δt ≳ h/E. The SAP has a minimum size but no upper bound; quantum interactions are described as overlap integrals over the spacetime volume where two SAPs coincide. A key consequence is that different quanta — including three quarks inside a nucleon and neutrinos traversing the Earth — can occupy the same spacetime region without restriction; the Pauli exclusion principle applies only to identical fermions in identical states. Principal results of v2.0: Wave-function collapse is dissolved as the physical end and beginning of a quantum wave (wave-terminating interaction); the projection postulate is unnecessary. Feynman spacetime integration and virtual particles acquire a natural physical basis; finite SAP size provides an intrinsic UV cutoff without renormalization. Zero-point energy (ħω/2) is diagnosed as an artifact of operator ordering in quantization — not a physical entity — rendering the cosmological constant problem a structural consequence of summing a quantity that was never real. A first-order extension to a-ECG curved spacetime shows that gravitational redshift, gravitational mass deficit, and the increase in SAP temporal thickness all scale as √A(r), unifying classical and quantum descriptions of energy conservation under gravity. These results are supported by quantitative tests obtained without renormalization: the electron anomalous magnetic moment ae = α/2π (1-loop) and 2-loop coefficient C4 to 0.0015%; the Compton cross-section to within 0.07% of the Klein–Nishina formula; and nucleon magnetic moments to ∼1.5%. Details appear in the series papers on the Rotating Spinor Wave (RSW) model. Series context: SWQ theory forms the foundational framework for the RSW model (unified description of fermion spin, g-factors, and hadron mass spectra) and the Energy-Conserving Gravity theory (a-ECG, a modification of general relativity incorporating full energy-momentum conservation). These three papers constitute an interconnected series. Note: Generative AI tools (Claude Sonnet 4.6, Anthropic; Grok, xAI) were used for drafting and language checking. All scientific content and responsibility rest solely with the author.
Abstract The book starts with a description of classical mechanics then discusses the quantum phenomena that require us to give up our commonsense classical intuitions. We consider the physical and conceptual arguments that led to the standard von Neumann-Dirac formulation of quantum mechanics and how the standard theory explains quantum phenomena. This includes a discussion of how the theory’s two dynamical laws work with the standard interpretation of states to explain determinate measurement records, quantum statistics, interference effects, entanglement, decoherence, and quantum nonlocality. A careful understanding of how the standard theory works ultimately leads to the quantum measurement problem. We consider how the measurement problem threatens the logical consistency of the standard theory then turn to a discussion of the main proposals for resolving it. This includes collapse formulations of quantum mechanics like Wigner’s extension of the standard theory and the GRW approach and no-collapse formulations like pure wave mechanics, the various many-worlds theories, and Bohmian mechanics. In discussing alternative formulations of quantum mechanics we pay particular attention to the explanatory role played by each theory’s empirical ontology and associated metaphysical commitments and the conceptual trade-offs between theoretical options.
This article is the third and final part of a three-paper sequence developing Ontological Field Theory (OFT) as 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 completes the ontological grounding of quantum mechanics by clarifying why it could not have been otherwise.