This work confronts the enduring interpretive challenge of wave-particle duality by proposing a unified conceptual framework that reinterprets physical waves as self-similar fractal information processes and particles as stable, localized excitation patterns of an underlying field. Our framework provides an operational synthesis between Wheeler's "it from bit" and Bohm's implicate order, effecting an ontological shift to an information-theoretic process ontology. In the optical regime, light propagation is reconceptualized as coherent information reconstruction mediated by the polarization field, dissolving the paradox of photon identity. Prism dispersion is reinterpreted as spatial unfolding of frequency-domain fractal structures. In the quantum domain, the double-slit interference pattern is connected to the fractal geometry of Wiener paths, providing an intuitive geometric basis for probability amplitude superposition. The framework resolves wave-particle duality by recognizing both aspects as complementary manifestations of a deeper information-reconstructive substrate.
This work confronts the enduring interpretive challenge of wave-particle duality by proposing a unified conceptual framework that reinterprets physical waves as self-similar fractal information processes and particles as stable, localized excitation patterns of an underlying field. Our framework provides an operational synthesis between Wheeler's "it from bit" and Bohm's implicate order, effecting an ontological shift to an information-theoretic process ontology. In the optical regime, light propagation is reconceptualized as coherent information reconstruction mediated by the polarization field, dissolving the paradox of photon identity. Prism dispersion is reinterpreted as spatial unfolding of frequency-domain fractal structures. In the quantum domain, the double-slit interference pattern is connected to the fractal geometry of Wiener paths, providing an intuitive geometric basis for probability amplitude superposition. The framework resolves wave-particle duality by recognizing both aspects as complementary manifestations of a deeper information-reconstructive substrate.
This work confronts the enduring interpretive challenge of wave-particle duality by proposing a unified conceptual framework that reinterprets physical waves as self-similar fractal information processes and particles as stable, localized excitation patterns of an underlying field. Our framework provides an operational synthesis between Wheeler's "it from bit" and Bohm's implicate order, effecting an ontological shift to an information-theoretic process ontology. In the optical regime, light propagation is reconceptualized as coherent information reconstruction mediated by the polarization field, dissolving the paradox of photon identity. Prism dispersion is reinterpreted as spatial unfolding of frequency-domain fractal structures. In the quantum domain, the double-slit interference pattern is connected to the fractal geometry of Wiener paths, providing an intuitive geometric basis for probability amplitude superposition. The framework resolves wave-particle duality by recognizing both aspects as complementary manifestations of a deeper information-reconstructive substrate.
Wave-particle duality has remained, for more than a century, an unresolved logical problem. Einstein transferred the contradiction into the concept of the photon; the orthodox interpretation deferred it as "complementarity." This article proposes an ontological reinterpretation: what moves as a particle is energy (concentrated at a point); what spreads and interferes is interaction (distributed in space). They are two distinct entities, not two aspects of the same entity. This distinction dissolves the ontological enigmas of duality — retrocausality, destructive interference, and superposition — without abandoning the confirmed equations of the quantum method. The collapse of measurement, following (Flor, 2026a), is dissolved as a characteristic of the probabilistic method. Under the demarcation framework of (Flor, 2026h), the classical formulation of duality violates the non-negotiable pillar of logical consistency; the proposed distinction restores it and occupies the legitimate antechamber of scientific speculation, awaiting the experimental test proposed in Section 10. The proposal connects to the field-medium model (Flor, 2026l), where c is a local property of the field resulting from interactions. The onset of interaction is not limited by c; only its peak is. This produces a falsifiable prediction and the honest acknowledgment that the proposal implies, in principle, the possibility of superluminal transmission of information. The article is programmatic: it dissolves the logical paradox, proposes an experimental test, and defers the quantitative reconstruction of the quantum formalism and the definition of the nature of light to future articles. A note on the originality of the distinction is included in the introduction.
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.
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.
Modern physics has achieved remarkable success by describing reality in terms of particles, states, and information bits. Yet recent developments in quantum matter, unconventional superconductivity, and topological computation increasingly suggest that a purely particle-centric framework may not be the most natural organizing description, but rather a convenient approximation. This work proposes an ontological reframing—from It from Bit to It from Wave—in which physical reality is understood as persistent, collective wave processes characterized by phase continuity, nonlocal coherence, and history-bearing relations. Within this framework, quasiparticles—including magnons, phonons, plasmons, and anyons—are reinterpreted not as entities, but as stable collective excitation modes: enduring patterns of interacting waves sustained by a medium. Building on this shift, localization is reinterpreted as the breakdown of wave connectivity, while delocalization corresponds to the restoration of global phase coherence. Superconductivity is reformulated not as a special property of paired particles, but as a phase-continuous, delocalized regime in which dissipation is not eliminated but reorganized into collective phase dynamics—naturally suggesting disorder-tolerant and non-BCS-like superconducting behavior. Extending the same ontology to computation, we argue that quantum computation is fundamentally history-based rather than state-based. Information is encoded not primarily in localized bits or qubits, but in the topological and phase-coherent histories of wave evolution, where robustness arises from nonlocal distribution rather than active error suppression. Crucially, this framework motivates previously under-emphasized physical observables—such as phase continuity length, history coherence time, degree of nonlocality, and dissipation-reorganized coherence—as primary descriptors of relational persistence. Rather than introducing new equations, this work reorganizes interpretation across domains and specifies concrete experimental and theoretical directions by asking which wave relations persist, under what constraints, and for how long. This paper constitutes the ontological foundation of the “It from Wave” research program. A complementary interpretive study examines the historical and conceptual shift from particle transport to phase propagation in electrical conduction, while a minimal physical model demonstrates how information and conduction can arise from phase-coupled dynamics without particle motion. Together, these works articulate a unified framework in which phase relations, history, and nonlocal coherence are treated as physically primary. This paper forms part of a conceptual trilogy exploring the transition from a Machine OS to a Life OS through an It from Wave perspective. The trilogy consists of:(i) a foundational conceptual work reframing information, existence, and generation beyond the It from Bit paradigm;(ii) a minimal theoretical study addressing nonlinear generative time, resonance, and feedback dynamics; and(iii) an applied interpretation engaging recent cosmological observations, including extreme intracluster heating in the early universe. While each paper is self-contained, together they articulate a unified framework in which reality is understood as a resonant, generative process rather than a sequential, machine-like assembly.