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On the Rationality of Aether as an Ontological Candidate in Physics
CUI Weicheng
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DOI:10.17265/2159-5313/2026.03.002
Zhejiang Engineering Research Center of Micro/Nano-Photonic/Electronic System Integration, Hangzhou, China
Westlake University, Hangzhou, China
Modern physics is confronted with persistent foundational contradictions: quantum mechanics lacks a coherent ontological basis for wave–particle duality and entanglement; relativity cannot unify gravity with quantum interactions; and both theories fail to explain the nature of the vacuum, field ontology, the interpretation of quantum waves, and fundamental particle structure. This paper contends that aether, reconceived as unobservable sub-elementary quanta that underpin all observable matter, represents a rationally defensible and logically consistent ontological candidate for resolving foundational inconsistencies in modern physics. Combined with mind (nonmaterial ontological existence), it forms a dualistic ontological framework worthy of theoretical exploration for physical theory. Aether is not proposed as a mechanically specifiable medium or an empirically verifiable substance, but as a theoretical substrate to account for the structure and behavior of elementary particles. Mind and aether together constitute the underlying basis of both animate and inanimate observable systems. As unobservable by current technology (aether) or nonmaterial (mind), they lie beyond direct experimental detection but provide a supplementary causal and structural foundation for motion, change, and interaction that current physics cannot fully explain. Proposing aether as an ontological candidate is not a regression but a methodological and ontological exploration that enhances the consistency and unity of physical theory without overstepping the empirical bounds of science.
Aether as Ontological Candidate, Mind–Aether Dualist Ontology, Sub-Elementary Quanta, Scientific Realism, Ontological Exploration, Unified Physical Framework
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