We state postulates describing the dynamics of a condensate vacuum coupled to quantum fields through a current Jμ. The postulates define a condensate with intrinsic fluctuations, massless transverse vector excitations satisfying Maxwell's equations, and a competition mechanism for detection events. This paper establishes the photon sector as the first worked example. From the postulates alone, we derive that the mode structure, detection probabilities, polarisation correlations, and measurement formalism of the condensate framework are identical to those of quantum electrodynamics for single-photon and biphoton experiments in linear optical apparatus. The Born rule follows from electromagnetic energy flux, condensate fluctuation statistics, and the Poisson limit theorem, without assuming any quantum probability postulate. Bell inequality violation follows from the joint vector mode structure of spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The projection postulate and decoherence emerge as consequences of competitive detection dynamics. Extension to the fermion sector is deferred to a companion paper.
Monforton et al. (Tue,) studied this question.