What particle/wave carries electric/magnetic fields?

[dcwarrior]

I understand that if you move a charged particle, you can create a photon, the basic unit of electromagnetic energy.

However, there are static electric and magnetic fields. These fields can extend quite far - the Earth's magnetic field for example.

Is there any research or theory on what gets the field from point a to point b? Has a charge-on or a magnet-on been discovered or hypothesized? Or is the best explanation at the moment the "virtual photon" thing discussed below?

If you look at bubble chamber tracks of elementary particles, the tracks always look smooth, even for little particles like electrons. But as I understand it, the bubble chamber is in an electric field and the particles curve if they are charged - so (using analogy to particles) if something is "hitting" these little electrons, (a) they don't show up as tracks of their own and (b) there must be a lot of them so the electrons and other particle making tracks describe smooth curves as opposed to periodic jerks as something hits them.

 

[azntoon]

So, is this the virtual photon?In quantum field theory and particle physics, a virtual photon is a quanta of the electromagnetic field that does not obey the usual laws of energy-time uncertainty. This allows the exchange of virtual photons between particles, resulting in the forces of nature that we observe. Virtual photons are exchanged between charged particles to create the electric force, and between magnetically charged particles to create the magnetic force.