Whenever I describe the fundamental forces to an audience that does not entirely consist of other particle physicists (happens more often that you might think), it is the weak force that causes trouble.
Electromagnetism holds atoms together (amongst other fun stuff), the strong force holds atomic nuclei together, and gravity holds the planet together. But what does the weak force do? I am usually reduced to hand-waving about neutrinos and the Sun, in a faintly unconvincing fashion.
In fact the weak force is vital, especially for the Sun.
The carriers of the weak force are the W and the Z bosons, and – crucially – the W boson has an electric charge. This means that protons can transform into neutrons by the emission of a positively-charged W boson; and that in turn means that hydrogen (nucleus = 1 proton) can fuse together to eventually form Helium (nucleus = 2 protons and 2 neutrons). Energy is released in the process, and that keeps the Sun burning.
Source : theguardian
No comments:
Post a Comment