Abstract Despite the empirical robustness of quantum mechanics, foundational questions regarding the ontological status of the quantum state and the origin of probability remain unresolved. This work introduces Distributed Presence (DP), a structural ontological framework that addresses these issues by reinterpreting quantum phenomena through the lens of a system’s modaldistribution across its state space. Crucially, this distribution is distinct from spatial extension; it describes how a system ontologically exists across mutually exclusive possibilities prior to interaction. Departing from epistemic interpretations that assume definite pre-measurement values, DP posits that distributed presence is a fundamental feature of physical reality. Consequently, probability is not introduced as a primitive axiom but emerges operationally from the geometric reconfiguration of this presence, offering a structural derivation of the Born rule. This perspective provides a unified conceptual basis for superposition, measurement collapse, and entanglement. Specifically, entanglement is defined as the non-factorizability of presence fractions within a composite state space. From this standpoint, non-local correlations are understood as consequences of a shared modal structure (an ontological unity) rather than dynamical signal transmission, ensuring full compatibility with relativistic causality. Formulated within a Euclidean geometric setting chosen for ontological transparency, the framework complements the standard Hilbert-space formalism. By grounding randomness and quantum behavior in the logic of distributed presence, this work bridges the conceptual gap between unitary evolution and definite outcomes, offering a coherent alternative to both wave-function realism and purely informational interpretations.
Sadeq Nasiri Vatan (Mon,) studied this question.