I have a general grasp on the function and "existence" of bosons and such, but I'm struggling to find any sources that provide a helpful explanation of what virtual particles are in a way that I feel I'm really able to conceptualize it. Can someone please help? Mostly just looking for an explanation of what force carriers really are (as in if they do not technically physically exist as particles but rather are just representative terms used in the math discussion of quantum field theory, what are the fields made up of and how do they exist if they do not involve any "real" particles).
Also, sorry if any of that was wrong, please correct me if so. I'm pretty confused so apologies in advance if any of what I explained as my understanding was false.
