What Are Bosons?

[Alex K]

Alex, think gravitons are out there?

Yes, I would think so. Why - because one can combine the Standard Model with General Relativity in a rather straightforward fashion (straightforward on a scale between tying shoelaces and superstrings), and one obtains a theory which is in principle applicable at energies far enough from the Planck scale. This theory breaks down at some Energy and must be replaced by whatever consistent fundamental description of quantum gravity is suitable, but in the long range/low energy regime where it is applicable, it contains gravitons. It can be, then, that upon closer inspection, these gravitons are no elementary particles, and instead an emergent statistical phenomenon, or a composite object, or whatever, but they would look like gravitons from a coarse grained low energy perspective...