From Wave-Particle to Features-Event Complementarity

The terms wave and particle are of classical origin and are inadequate in dealing with the novelties of quantum mechanics with respect to classical physics. In this paper we propose to substitute the wave-particle terminology with that of features-event complemen- tarity. This approach aims at solving some of the problems affecting quantum-mechanics since its birth. In our terminology, features are what is responsible for one of the most char- acterizing aspects of quantum mechanics: quantum correlations. We suggest that an (unin- terpreted) basic ontology for quantum mechanics should be thought of as constituted by events, features and their dynamical interplay, and that its (interpreted) theoretical ontology (made up by three classes of theoretical entities: states, observables and properties) does not isomorphically correspond to the uninterpreted ontology. Operations, i.e. concrete in- terventions within the physical world, like preparation, premeasurement and measurement, together with reliable inferences, assure the bridge between interpreted and uninterpreted ontology.