A five-dimensional classical framework for gravitational and quantum phenomena

Conventional attempts to unify quantum theory with general relativity by quantizing gravity face persistent challenges, suggesting the need for a deeper framework. This work examines whether gravitational and quantum phenomena can arise within a five-dimensional classical theory. In this theory, four-dimensional spacetime evolves under an additional parameter τ, with gravitational and worldline relaxation mechanisms driving the system toward a stable equilibrium. In the weak-gravity limit, the theory recovers Newtonian gravity in equilibrium, while basic features of general relativity are recovered beyond this limit. Two hallmark quantum phenomena are also reproduced: EPR-type correlations arise through interactions propagating along worldlines, while double-slit interference emerges from the collective dynamics of worldlines composing each particle. Since outcomes are determinate there is no measurement problem, and the progressive self-assembly of worldlines in the time dimension provides a natural mechanism for the observed flow and arrow of time. The framework further predicts experimentally distinguishable effects, such as the possibility of extracting gravitational which-way information without disturbing interference. These results indicate a higher-dimensional classical route toward a unified theory of quantum gravity. Since it is based on realism, locality, and determinism at its foundations, this framework revives Einstein's vision of a more intuitive, fundamentally classical understanding of nature.