"In 1933 Enrico Fermi suggested that beta radioactivity, and the manner in which the neutron spontaneously decayed, could be described using a formalism similar to that developed by Dirac for the electromagnetic force, but 10-10 times weaker. With its range of only about 1/1,000th the diameter of the nucleus, it could not play a role in binding the nucleus, but it could affect individual s. The fact that the metastable particles exhibited the same characteristic time of 10-10 second indicated that this weak force acted on many types of particles. ...a 'characteristic time' ...being the time for an interaction across a nucleus 3 fm in diameter; an event taking place in a shorter time [than 10-23 seconds for the strong force] has 'no meaning'. ...For electromagnetic interactions, the strength is 10-3 of the strong force, and so the characteristic time is longer (10-20 [seconds]); this is roughly the time for a photon to cross an atom."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
, The Big Bang: A View from the 21st Century (2003) p. 66.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Weak_interaction
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Weak interaction
21 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Weak interaction →
Related Quotes
"It appears that the strong interactions and electromagnetic interactions are invariant with respect to C, P, and T se…"
"The weak force... least fits into our typical picture of what a force should do. ...the categories of 'attractive' an…"
"In his theory of beta reactivity Fermi introduced a new type of interactions among elementary particles, which today …"
"The... weak force... couples to both s and s, and is very short-ranged due to the large rest mass of the messenger qu…"
"For the weak force... universality of coupling strength is not readily apparent. ic weak forces are very different in…"
"How can s be produced in the center of the sun and how can they be detected in laboratories here on earth if they are…"
"The weak force gives rise to reactions... These reactions involve a change of flavor... one version involving the exc…"
"In 1952... I tried to explain the behavior of the new "strange particles," so called because they were copiously prod…"
"The strong and weak forces are less familiar because their strength rapidly diminishes over all but subatomic distanc…"
"In addition to transforming a neutron into a proton and vice versa, the weak force was evidently responsible for the …"