Gravitons: The Quantum Excitations of Gravity

Gravitons are not an additional particle but rather a result of quantizing gravity, reflecting the essence of gravity itself. Various approaches, whether immersing spacetime, loop quantum gravity, or string theory, must adhere to quantum mechanics and yield general relativity's infrared limit to produce gravitons. These particles should not be viewed as fundamental; similar to how phonons arise from sound waves in condensed matter physics, gravitons represent quantized excitations of gravitational fields, demonstrating that they exist within the framework of quantum mechanics and general relativity.