The question

“Is the wave-particle duality caused by the collapse of the wave function?”

- indeed relates to a really fundamental mainstream physics problem “”what is “wave-particle duality”?”, which so fundamentally cannot be solved in the mainstream, since in the mainstream “particles” really are only some transcendent items that for some mystic reasons have some observable properties, including the duality,

- nad so can be, and in general is, solved only in the Shevchenko-Tokarevsky’s Planck scale informational physical model, in this case it is enough to read one of two main papers -

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354418793_The_Informational_Conception_and_the_Base_of_Physics .

The problem was discussed and answered in SS posts in rather numerous RG threads, so more in this case see, say, SS post August 28, 2023, page 7 in https://www.researchgate.net/post/No9_Is_the_spin_of_an_electron_really_spin2/7

Here some addition to the link above - wave-particle duality has no any relation to rather strange, but existent in the mainstream, “the collapse of the wave function”. Really no any “the wave function collapses” happen when any particle exists and interacts with other particles, including in material structures, and including at interactions in special structures “particles detectors” by using of which some “observers” measure some particles’ existent for a mystic reason parameters.

These structures are specific only for the observers, and in the structures – as in any other structures in Matter – at interactions the wave function by no means “collapses”, it only concretely transforms in accordance with concrete actions of concrete fundamental Nature forces at concrete interactions.

More see the links above, to read reDzennn comment [5passages] in

https://phys.org/news/2024-12-numerical-simulations-classical-world-emerge.html

- it useful as well.

Cheers

The answer is no.

Different problems.

The Schrödinger equation specifies how wave functions evolve over time, and the wave function behaves qualitatively like other waves, such as water waves or waves on a string, because the Schrödinger equation is a mathematical type of wave equation. This explains the name "wave function."

“…The answer is no…”

-that is quite correct, but this

_...Dent problems.…..”

- is rather vague wording. Really some “collapse of the wave function” problem simply doesn’t exist; more see SS post above.

And to

“…The Schrödinger equation specifies how wave functions evolve over time, and the wave function behaves qualitatively like other waves, such as water waves or waves on a string, because the Schrödinger equation is a mathematical type of wave equation. This explains the name "wave function." …”

- is really vague claim. That particles in water and strings change their positions harmonically, composing some “waves”, by no means explains why the Schrödinger equation is just of “wave function”

SS post in https://www.researchgate.net/post/Predicted_Zitterbewengung_of_electron_thought_similar_to_Brownian_vibration_motion_of_atoms/1is relevant to this thread question.

Cheers

This is a deeply important question, and it lies at the heart of what my work — Quantum Wavefront Dynamics (QWD) — was created to address.

The short answer is:

No, wave-particle duality is not caused by wavefunction collapse.

Collapse is not what creates the duality — it’s what destroys the wave-like behavior and reveals the particle outcome.

But the mystery goes deeper:

How can one entity behave like both a wave and a particle, and when does it become one or the other?

According to QWD:

• The quantum entity (photon, electron, etc.) is always a real, extended wave — not a probabilistic ghost.

• This wave has a geometric structure — a wavefront — that propagates deterministically.

• When no external disturbance occurs, this wave evolves coherently and produces interference patterns.

• However, when the environment (observer, device, material) interacts with it asymmetrically, it begins to distort the wavefront curvature.

• This distortion leads to gradual localization — the wavefront bends, concentrates, and behaves as if it “collapses” into a particle detection.

QWD’s Key Contribution:

• It provides a single physical description — not duality, not collapse postulates.

• Wave and particle are two stages of one evolving wavefront under different physical conditions.

• Collapse is not instantaneous. It’s a continuous, deterministic, geometry-driven process.

This model aligns with modern experimental findings (like decoherence and interference decay) but removes the need for mystery, randomness, or parallel realities.

If this resonates with you, I invite you — and all reading — to explore my published manuscript:

Quantum Wavefront Dynamics (QWD): A Deterministic Framework for the Wave-to-Particle Transition

Available here on ResearchGate: [Insert Your RG DOI Link]

It presents a full theoretical explanation, simulations, and proposed experimental tests — and offers a unified view that dissolves the duality paradox.

Sincerely,

Adam Dakhil Nasser Alzerkany

Author of QWD