Quantum Cosmology: The Integration of Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics —Part I

The inability to delineate a unified physical ontology that accounts simultaneously for the laws of special relativity and the results of quantum experiments has been a defining problem in physics for more than 100 years. This analysis addresses the problem by positing an ontic, mixed ontology composed of a discrete 4D spacetime and a physical, ultra-high dimensional (3 x N) Planck Space. Together, Planck Space and the three spatial dimensions of 4D spacetime form a tightly integrated ((3 x N) + 3) hyperspace (the Dual Ontology). Critically, the Dual Ontologys structure replaces 1) the continuous, differentiable manifold of 4D spacetime with a discrete 4D spacetime and 2) mathematical 3N configuration spaces with a physical (3 x N) Planck Space. Moreover, the Dual Ontology is structurally and dynamically predicated on the one-to-one mapping and identity between the discrete spatial units that simultaneously form 4D spacetime and Planck Space. The one-to-one mapping and identity of the discrete spatial units support an integrated quantum dynamics based upon the dynamic evolution of single and N-body quantum states in 4D spacetime in full compliance with the laws of special relativity and the instantaneous collapse of all quantum states in an ontic Planck Space, where special and general relativity and more generally, 4D spacetimes laws of physics, do not apply.