gaugequanta

Gaugequanta are hypothetical elementary excitations of gauge fields in quantum field theory. In gauge theories, the interactions are carried by gauge fields constrained by a local symmetry, and the quantum excitations of these fields behave as particle-like quanta. The term gaugequanta is used in some contexts to emphasize the carrier-particle aspect of a gauge field, with their identity determined by the underlying gauge group. For a simple Abelian U(1) theory, the gaugequanta are photons; for non-Abelian theories such as SU(2) or SU(3), the quanta correspond to the gauge bosons associated with the symmetry, such as the W and Z bosons and gluons, subject to symmetry breaking and mixing in the standard model.

Mass and interactions depend on the mechanism of symmetry breaking: gaugequanta can be massless in unbroken phases or acquire mass via the Higgs mechanism. They interact with charged fields and with each other, with the interactions constrained by gauge invariance. In quantum chromodynamics, gluons as gaugequanta carry color charge and participate in self-interactions, and due to confinement, free gaugequanta are not observed at low energies.

Outside established theory, some speculative or educational frameworks use the term gaugequanta to describe hypothetical excitations of novel gauge fields, including proposals for beyond-Standard-Model physics or quantum gravity approaches; in mainstream literature, the standard term is gauge boson.