Exchange interaction independently by physicists Werner Heisenberg and Paul Dirac in 1926. The exchange interaction is sometimes called the "exchange force". However, it is not a true force and should not be confused with the exchange forces produced by the exchange of force carriers, such as the electromagnetic force produced between two electrons by the exchange of a photon, or the strong force between two quarks produced by the exchange of a gluon. Although sometimes erroneously described as a force, the exchange interaction is a purely quantum mechanical "effect" unlike other forces. Quantum mechanical particles are classified as bosons or fermions. The
Spontaneous symmetry breaking massive modes, like the plasma mode in a superconductor, or the Higgs mode observed in particle physics. In the standard model of particle physics, spontaneous symmetry breaking of the gauge symmetry associated with the electro-weak force generates masses for several particles, and separates the electromagnetic and weak forces. The W and Z bosons are the elementary particles that mediate the weak interaction, while the photon mediates the electromagnetic interaction. At energies much greater than 100 GeV all these particles behave in a similar manner. The Weinberg–Salam theory predicts that, at lower energies, this symmetry is broken so that the photon