Vector Boson

In particle physics, a vector boson is a boson with the spin quantum number equal to 1.

The vector bosons considered to be elementary particles in the Standard Model are the gauge bosons or, the force carriers of fundamental interactions: the photon of electromagnetism, the W and Z bosons of the weak interaction, and the gluon of the strong interaction. There also exist composite particles that are vector bosons, such as the vector mesons, made of a quark and antiquark. For some time, through the 1970s and '80s, intermediate vector bosons, vector bosons of "intermediate" mass, were a major topic in high energy physics.