Quantum mechanics was developed primarily to treat atomic phenomenon, where the speed of the electron, most of the time, is not close to that of light. The equations posed by Heisenberg and Schrödinger did not fulfil the demands of relativity, but generally that did not mean anything because the velocities were so low. It was the Brit P.A.M. Dirac that was first in writing an equation for the electron that agreed with relativity.

The first antiparticle, the positron, the antiparticle of the electron, was discovered in 1932 by C.D. Anderson. He observed a positive particle, which had a mass identical to the mass of the electron.

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