Editing Force carrier (section)

== History ==
The concept of messenger particles dates back to the 18th century when the French physicist [[Charles-Augustin de Coulomb|Charles Coulomb]] showed that the electrostatic force between electrically charged objects follows a law similar to [[Newton's Law of Gravitation]]. In time, this relationship became known as [[Coulomb's law]]. By 1862, [[Hermann von Helmholtz]] had described a ray of light as the "quickest of all the messengers". In 1905, [[Albert Einstein]] proposed the existence of a light-particle in answer to the question: "what are light quanta?"

In 1923, at the [[Washington University in St. Louis]], [[Arthur Holly Compton]] demonstrated an effect now known as [[Compton scattering]]. This effect is only explainable if light can behave as a stream of particles, and it convinced the physics community of the existence of Einstein's light-particle. Lastly, in 1926, one year before the theory of quantum mechanics was published, [[Gilbert N. Lewis]] introduced the term "[[photon]]", which later became the name for Einstein's light particle.<ref>{{cite arXiv |last1=Kragh |first1=Helge |year=2014|title=Photon: New light on an old name |class=physics.hist-ph |eprint=1401.0293}}</ref> From there, the concept of messenger particles developed further, notably to [[rest mass|massive]] force carriers (e.g. for the [[Yukawa potential]]).