Photon Transformation and Measurement as Ontological Phase Transition

We propose an ontological reinterpretation of the quantum measurement problem using a process based framework. The photon is not treated as a particle or wave, but as a metastable process capable of transforming into multiple physical forms (thermal, electrical, chemical, or mechani- cal). The double slit experiment is reinterpreted as a spatially distributed process whose trans formation is either deferred to the detection screen or forced earlier by measurement near the slits. Interference arises not from wave behavior but from delayed transformation. Measurement corresponds to an ontological phase transition of the process, not to information acquisition or wavefunction collapse. It does not replace the standard quantum formalism, but offers an alternative ontological interpretation of it. Formally, this framework is expressed as a formal ontological schema articulated via primitive processual operators of differentiation, fixation, and dissipation (diff/fix/diss), rather than as a predictive mathematical formalism. This approach reframes the ontological basis of the measurement problem, eliminates observer-dependence, and aligns quantum phenomena with general principles of dissipative process ontology.