Unified Mechanism for Inertial and Gravitational Mass: A Wave-Based Resolution of the Equivalence Principle

This article presents a unified mechanistic explanation for the equality of inertial and gravitational mass. We demonstrate that both emerge from energy exchange processes between deformed spatial wave structures. Elastic collisions involve energy transfer between velocity-dependent deformations, while gravitational attraction involves energy transfer through time-dilation gradients. Both processes exhibit mass proportionality because they measure the same underlying quantity: the deformation energy stored in matter's wave structure. This resolves the centuries-old mystery of the equivalence principle within a wave-based paradigm of matter.