2012-08-05 09:55:25 +00:00
|
|
|
<h1>The Weak Interaction</h1>
|
|
|
|
|
|
2012-08-05 11:37:43 +00:00
|
|
|
<p class="abstract">Some nuclear decays cannot be explained with only
|
|
|
|
|
the strong and the electromagnetic interactions, another interaction
|
|
|
|
|
is required. These decays are called beta decays (β-decay), and turn a
|
2012-08-05 09:55:25 +00:00
|
|
|
neutron into a proton (or the other way around) and emit an electron
|
|
|
|
|
and a new particle, the neutrino [or a positron (an
|
|
|
|
|
antielectron)]. They are rare and very different from the other types
|
|
|
|
|
of decays, which is the reason that we need the new force to explain
|
|
|
|
|
them, the weak force. This force has the Z and W bosons as messenger
|
|
|
|
|
particles, these differ from the other messenger particles in that
|
|
|
|
|
they have a mass, they are in fact very massive.</p>
|
