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In quantum mechanics, physicists often use the terms "force" and "interaction" interchangeably; for example, the weak interaction is sometimes referred to as the "weak force". According to the present understanding, there are four fundamental interactions or forces: gravitation , electromagnetism, the weak interaction , and the strong interaction.
In fact, the force is termed weak because its field strength over any set distance is typically several orders of magnitude less than that of the electromagnetic force, which itself is further orders of magnitude less than the strong nuclear force. The weak interaction is the only fundamental interaction that breaks parity symmetry, and ...
In nuclear physics and particle physics, the strong interaction, also called the strong force or strong nuclear force, is a fundamental interaction that confines quarks into protons, neutrons, and other hadron particles. The strong interaction also binds neutrons and protons to create atomic nuclei, where it is called the nuclear force.
The strong force overpowers the electrostatic repulsion of protons and quarks in nuclei and hadrons respectively, at their respective scales. While quarks are bound in hadrons by the fundamental strong interaction, which is mediated by gluons, nucleons are bound by an emergent phenomenon termed the residual strong force or nuclear force .
The nuclear force is distinct from what historically was known as the weak nuclear force. The weak interaction is one of the four fundamental interactions, and plays a role in processes such as beta decay. The weak force plays no role in the interaction of nucleons, though it is responsible for the decay of neutrons to protons and vice versa.
If the coupling is dimensionful, as e.g. in gravity ([] =), the Fermi theory ([] =) or the chiral perturbation theory of the strong force ([] =), then the theory is usually not renormalizable. Perturbation expansions in the coupling might still be feasible, albeit within limitations, [ 2 ] [ 3 ] as most of the higher order terms of the series ...
are usually produced via the strong force, they decay weakly. Thus, once created the two are better thought of as superpositions of two weak eigenstates which have vastly different lifetimes: The long-lived neutral kaon is called the K L ("K-long"), decays primarily into three pions, and has a mean lifetime of 5.18 × 10 −8 s.
Charged current interactions are the most easily detected class of weak interactions. The weak force is best known for mediating nuclear decay. It has very short range, but is the only force (apart from gravity) to interact with neutrinos. The weak force is communicated via the W and Z exchange particles.