Wave-Particle Duality and the Coherent Quantum Domain Picture

Abstract

It is proposed that the paradox of wave-particle duality in quantum mechanics may be resolved using a physical picture analogous to magnetic domains. Within this picture, a quantum particle represents a coherent region of a quantum wave with characteristic total energy, momentum, and spin. The dynamics of such a state are described by the usual linear quantum wave equations. But the coherence is maintained by a nonlinear self-interaction term that is evident only during transitions from one quantum state to another. This is analogous to the self-organizing property of domains in a ferromagnetic material, in which a single domain may appear as a stable macro-particle, but with rapid transitions between different domain configurations also possible. For the quantum case, this implies that the "collapse of the wave function" is a real dynamical physical process that occurs continuously in spacetime. This picture may also permit the resolution of apparent paradoxes associated with quantum measurement and entangled states.