Boson half-integer spin particles cannot be bosons and integer spin particles cannot be fermions. In large systems, the difference between bosonic and fermionic statistics is only apparent at large densities — when their wave functions overlap. At low densities, both types of statistics are well approximated by Maxwell–Boltzmann statistics, which is described by classical mechanics. All observed elementary particles are either fermions or bosons. The observed elementary bosons are all gauge bosons: photons, W and Z bosons, gluons, except the Higgs boson which is a scalar boson. Finally, many approaches to quantum gravity postulate a force carrier for gravity, the graviton,
History of subatomic physics which are constructed of atoms, that in turn consist of subatomic particles, namely atomic nuclei and electrons. Many more types of subatomic particles have been found. Most such particles (but not electrons) were eventually found to be composed of even smaller particles such as quarks. Particle physics studies these smallest particles and their behaviour under high energies, whereas nuclear physics studies atomic nuclei and their (immediate) constituents: protons and neutrons. The idea that all matter is composed of elementary particles dates to at least the 6th century BC. The philosophical doctrine of atomism and the nature of elementary particles were