"Once helium burning has occurred... the next possible reaction—carbon burning—is not necessarily slow... This reaction involves ...a strong as opposed to a weak interaction. ...Carbon burning results in magnesium. ...Taking a cross section of a highly evolved star would reveal a system of many layers. The inner layers have been subjected to the largest pressures, thereby forced to the highest temperatures, and burned the furthest; the outermost layers, by contrast, have not burned at all. Thus, as we proceed from outside in, there will be an outermost layer with the initial mix of hydrogen and helium, a layer of mostly helium, a layer of carbon, a layer of magnesium, and so on. ...So we arrive at the picture of a star, in the latest stages of its evolution... now composed of mostly carbon nuclei and other explosive material."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Frank Wilczek, Betsy Devine, Longing for the Harmonies: Themes and Variations from Modern Physics (1987) Ch.11 Explosions and Fluourescence (or, Entropy's Revenge).
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 1933 Enrico Fermi suggested that beta radioactivity, and the manner in which the neutron spontaneously decayed, co…"