The weak interaction (or `weak force') is one of the four known fundamental types
of interactions in physics. It is only stronger than the gravitational force, but the range over which weak interaction occurs is very short (
m), thus making its effects even harder to detect accurately. The weak interactions affect markedly all of the left-handed leptons
and the very heavy quarks, such as the top and bottom quarks. Main (electroweak) field carriers
of the weak interaction are the
and
bosons. The weak interaction is the only interaction that violates parity and changes flavours, thus allowing for the heavier (less stable) quarks decay. The electroweak interaction is also responsible for the beta decay process, and thus is part of many naturally occuring radiation processes. An unified quantum treatment of the electroweak interaction and elctromagnetic field theory (QED), with the former involving the symmetry of the `special unitary' Lie group
SU(2), was first reported by Physics Nobel Laureate Stephen Weinberg (for a recent textbook by the latter please see ref. [1]). The
symmetry is currently part of the Standard Model (SUSY) of physics.
As of this snapshot date, this entry was owned by vip6.