An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

The unified description of two of the four fundamental interactions of nature, → electromagnetism and the → weak interaction which would merge into a single force under conditions of extreme temperature (above 10¹⁶ degrees, 10² GeV) prevalent in the early history of the → Universe.

→ electroweak; → interaction.

One of the fundamental forces of nature that accounts for some particle interaction, such as → beta decay (→ radioactivity), the decay of free → neutrons, → neutrino interactions, and so forth. It is short-ranged, dominating at distances of 10^-16 cm and occurs at a rate slower than that of the → strong interaction by a factor of about 10^-13, hence its name. Although the weak interaction also includes interactions in which no neutrinos are emitted, neutrino emission accompanies all weak interactions of interest to astrophysics. Weak interaction plays an important role in the evolution of the stars from birth to death. For example, the → proton-proton reaction is a weak interaction. Also called → weak force or → weak nuclear force.

→ weak; → interaction.