"Field patterns are characteristic patterns of how disturbances react to changing conditions. Because field patterns exhibit characteristics of both propagating waves and localized particles, field pattern theory may answer some of the questions posed by quantum mechanics, in which objects can be treated as both particles and waves."

"Field patterns may bridge the wave-particle duality. The disturbances are represented as points and discrete lines, Milton says, like a particle. "But it's diffusing according to something that looks like a wave," he says.

Field pattern theory does not yet contain a provision for the pattern to collapse back into a single point, however, but Milton and Mattei think that field patterns may have a connection to the basic building blocks of matter. Fluctuations in space and time at the smallest scales could give rise to field patterns that manifest themselves as electrons and protons, which make up atoms.

"What we see as electrons, protons or quantum mechanical waves are manifestations of the fundamental super microscopic scale of these field patterns, Milton says.

Milton and Mattei have much to learn about field patterns. For example, in some cases field patterns "blow up," expanding exponentially, seemingly out of control. The theoretical model also doesn't yet contain some properties of waves. But this intial paper is a first step."

Full paper

http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/473/2198/20160819