  It has been proposed that the scattering of electromagnetic zero-point
radiation by accelerating objects results in a reaction force that may account,
at least in part, for inertia [1,2,3]. This arises because of asymmetries in
the electromagnetic zero-point field (ZPF) or electromagnetic quantum vacuum as
perceived from an accelerating reference frame. In such a frame, the Poynting
vector and momentum flux of the ZPF become non-zero. If one assumes that
scattering of the ZPF radiation takes place at the level of quarks and
electrons constituting matter, then it is possible for both Newton's equation
of motion, ${\bf f}=m{\bf a}$, and its relativistic covariant generalization,
${\cal F}=d{\cal P}/d\tau$, to be obtained as a consequence of the non-zero ZPF
momentum flux. We now conjecture that this scattering must take place at the
Compton frequency of a particle, and that this interpretation of mass leads
directly to the de Broglie relation characterizing the wave nature of that
particle in motion, $\lambda_B=h/p$. This suggests a perspective on a
connection between electrodynamics and the quantum wave nature of matter.
Attempts to extend this perspective to other aspects of the vacuum are left for
future consideration.
