Is the weak nuclear force really a force? 

Honestly, I would genuinely appreciate a longer video going more in-depth about the Weak Force.

The "deeper dives" into these subjects are always the most fascinating. I'd like to see more.

this is great! I'll be referencing this video when I need to cut corners with the weak force from now on

Now I am extremely intrigued to know how the electroweak force was discovered and what the combination of the two forces as actually the same force means when talking about particle interactions.

For those still puzzled by the concept of mass uncertainty, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that the duration in time and uncertainty in a particle's energy are connected through a constant, ΔE Δt ≥ ħ/2. Additionally, as Einstein demonstrated with his famous equation E=mc², mass can be understood as a measurement of energy. Consequently, mass also carries inherent uncertainty. This implies that the shorter a particle's lifespan, the wider the spread of its probability function becomes. Considering the weak boson particles, which decay rapidly, their mass also becomes probabilistic. Interestingly, even photons, conventionally regarded as massless, can exhibit mass if they engage in an interaction involving highly energetic photons that decay into a pair of matter and antimatter electrons. Thus, the transient photon, although typically short-lived, may acquire mass due to the inherent uncertainty.

The other weak force you don't hear physicist's mention is the Bar force. It's supposed to keep me from picking up a candy bar when I'm trying to lose weight. It rarely shows up but when it does, it has to be pretty strong to work.

Weak interactions tend to take a long time because of what you said...except for the top quark, which decays so rapidly that it doesn't have time to form hadrons. The reason for this is that has more mass than two W and/or Z particles in their normal mass range so it doesn't have to rely on the low probability of producing them that the lower-mass quarks do. It does so directly, and since the speed of a force depends on the mass of the force boson, the reaction is far faster than the strong interaction.

Thanks Don, you are an expert who can explain. Very rare on the internet.

Less than ten minutes and I learned more than hours of lectures. Thank you for these Dr. Lincoln

Dr. Don, more "deep dives" would be great. I always learn something from your videos. The production and the presentation are excellent. Thanks so much for the magnificent content all these years. You are appreciated!

This was a really interesting video. The notion that a lightweight W boson is possible, but rare, and is required for the interaction is just plain amazing.

On the topic of is-it-a-force... The results of Pauli's exclusion principle sure looks like a force, as it counteracts the ability of half spin particles to be in the same state, i.e. to bunch up together. I would really appreciate a video explaining the distinction in that case. Thanks.

Now that was a very strong elucidation of the weak force Dr. Don! Well done! 👍👍💥💥

Imagine this guy as a lecturer! He would be Feynman-level awesome! Actually a full lecture series wouldn't be a bad idea, if you can ever spare the time!

First time I've learnt something concrete about the weak nuclear force, rather than that, "It's responsible for some forms of radioactivity..." fob-off I normally read. Great, and good to have the fob-off explicitly acknowledged!

This man is completely awesome. And Femilab producing these instructional videos for the general public, solid information on physics that would take us years to learn, is also awesome. Thanks all!! 🏆🏆🏆

Yes, I'd love to watch/listen to a deeper dive on the Weak Force, please! Thanks for the video.

Interesting explanation of the weak force, especially describing the W bosons with the required energy as rare. From what I have been told before, the reason the weak force is considered weak is due to its lack of range, and that's due to the boson force carries having so much mass that their lifetimes are short as per the uncertainty principle. Are these two explanations equivalent?

Fantastic Quick Video. This cleared up several questions I've had for years, but never bothered to deep-dive myself. Thank you.

Don, thank you so much! I've been asking this question for such a long time and couldn't really get a straight answer! Now I have one! Great topic and, as always, great video!

Thank you for this enlightening info ;)

I can't emphasize enough how I love Dr. Don charismatic, very well didactic videos. I've been following for years

Yes, more of these deeper dives please. This is excellent, so clear I could happily use it with my son.

This was a far better way to learn about it than either simply reading about it or trying to make sense of static drawings. I certainly appreciate it, it helps me grasp the concept better.

YES! Thanks a million, Don, I understood this on a whole new level now. I love this kind of "deep-dive" video; it's short, to the point and understandable. 🏆 PERFECT!

Thanks for explaining this. Can you elaborate further on how elementary particles can change? Does this imply that maybe they are not elementary? Even just changing properties without changing to a whole different kind of particle seems to suggest some underlying structure.

I always asked myself "what the weak nuclear force actually do?" for years, never being curious enough to look it up. The popular books and shows always just mentioned the "it's responsible for nuclear decay etc.". And finally the answer came. Thanks!

I know I’m late to this video and to your channel, but wanted to confirm that deep dives like this are very welcome.

What a classical explanation of a quantum phenomenon. I'm going to use that now, thanks! You think I could run with it and talk about the weak force as though I'm pulling things out of the bag and tossing it again with less contents? Or does that analogy break down?

Could you please make a video explaining how the time dilation due to the difference in gravitation between the surface and the center of star affects the behavior and lifecycle of the star?

Great video! I have so many questions!! 1) If every fundamental particle has a range of possible masses, does each particle have a specific, definite mass prior to observation? Or is its mass fundamentally probabilistic like the position of an electron prior to observation? And what does this have to do with the Higgs field/boson? (This topic might merit a whole other video). 2) What causes quarks to decay by emitting W bosons? And what is the order of decay? You mentioned that a top quark becomes a bottom quark which in turn becomes a charm quark. Can a charm quark then emit a W+ boson to become a strange quark, which can emit a W- boson to become an up quark, and then a final W+ to become a down quark? Can lower-mass particles ever absorb W bosons to become more massive particles, or does it only go one way? 3) What about Z bosons!? You barely mentioned them!

No one explained weak force like you did. Thank you

Can you explain why the weak force is “related” to the electromagnetic? Great vid as always! Keep up the good work guys!

The funny thing about the strong force is that it becomes weak at high energy levels.

Some laypersons contend that gratitude is also a force. If it succeeds in compelling, compelling content, all the more so. Thank you Fermilab (and all the other creators inspired by your contributions).

THANK YOU... PROF. DR. LINCOLN...!!!

How can a quark with a mass less than a proton emit a W+ boson with a mass 82 times greater than proton's mass?

I would like to hear more details about how it works, about strength comparisons, particle energies for certain scenarios and stuff. As far as I understand it now, it should rather be called "rare force" than "weak force".

Thanks Again for the Great Video Dr. Lincoln!!! I love getting to see the world the way you see it and hear all these parts of physics I may miss out on otherwise! Have a wonderful week sir! ✨

Always great to see another video by Dr Don!

I miss your mustache

Yes please on the deeper dives! The way you explain things is very intuitive (and comical at times) 😊

The heavy sack and boat analogy made so much sense on recoil 🙌🏼

Prof. Lincoln, an off-topic argument: in a next video can you explain the problem of the self-energy of the electron and its solution by introducing what is known as mass renormalization?

Thank you. I needed this explanation.

Exeedingly interesting, Dr Lincoln! Thank you!

Your videos are always amazing. Great content, thank you

. Loved this deeper dive. Thank you.

Very nice explanation and Video. Thank you!

Thank you! I've been wondering about this for years!

I'd definitely love a longer, more in-depth video about the Weak Force. I wish your videos were much longer in general! I'd also love an explanation of the Pauli Exclusion Principle and how exactly it works, in terms of forces. I've heard so many conflicting explanations, each one stated with more gusto and certainty than the last, about something as simple as "why don't I fall through my chair?" and how that relates to "Why don't white dwarves collapse?" Obviously the latter is from electron degeneracy pressure, which is related to the Pauli Exclusion Principle, yet nobody ever describes _how_ that happens. Sure, okay, no two fermions can occupy the exact same quantum state, but when they try, something _stops_ them. This is presumably a force of some kind, because F=ma. Without that force, the particles would continue to move closer to each other. The fact that they don't, means there's a force... right? But what force is it? Similarly, I've heard descriptions of solid-solid object interactions as being governed by the electromagnetic force, but I've also seen very convincing claims, backed up by mathematical analysis, that says that would be far, far too weak, and that the real reason I don't fall through my chair is the Pauli Exclusion Principle, but... that seems very unlikely, and nobody has yet been able to explain to my satisfaction _how_ that happens. So I'd love a video that can answer this question. When two particles get near each other, enough that their wave functions begin to overlap and they become at-risk of sharing the same quantum state, *something happens* to prevent that. What is that something? So far whenever I ask that question, all I get is "The Pauli exclusion principle prevents it." But that's just a name for some words describing a concept. Without more concept beneath that to be revealed, it can't prevent _anything,_ you know? There's nothing in there that feels satisfying in the same way that electromagnetism, gravity, or even the strong or weak forces does.

You are extremely talented at explaining complex stuff . Thanks !

I think a video would be helpful which would show simplified Standard Model's Lagrangian and explain how you can "read off", without any calculations, what its terms actually mean: how you can see which particles can interact, what determines the strength of interactions, what terms are not allowed by postulated symmetries of the theory, and what this means. A LOT of people watching these videos never actually dab into math of the theory. Some seem to even coming to the conclusion that "science" is just some sciency-sounding words strung together and lots of handwaving (and they mimic this with hilarious results). They genuinely do not understand that there is actual rigorous mathematical "meat" beneath it, the handwaving is actually not allowed as a part of the theory. Everything has to logically come out of the math. IOW: they have rather erroneous understanding how science works. This is worth improving.

Dr. Don is a force, too. THE force. May he be with us!

Please keep the deep dives coming, and sharpen more corners!

I've been trying to fully understand the weak force for years! Thanks for the vid.

Finally and explanation that makes sense. Thanks.

Thanks! Very enlightening information about the Weak force!

Thank you for this explanation, I learned something new today

Thanks for the vid, Don! The information density was very high on this one. I am pleased, and so is my cat. :)

Is degeneracy pressure a force? It's the most common "force" we feel in everyday life - the "force" that pushes back on us when we push something and the "force" that keeps us from sinking into the floor.

Cool topic Don, thanks.

Excellent work an thanks, please do the "deep dive" into this topic

Love your episodes!

A great, short explanation about something that should had been learned when we learned about this force.

Can't say enough good things about Don. Keep it up champ

Nicely done.

This answers a question that bugged me for a long time. Thanks, and please more deep dives.

I agree with many that the deeper dives are very interesting and I personally would like to see more of them.

Man I love you videos. Thanks!

I'd love to see more deep dives, Dr. Lincoln!

Please another video about weak force, very insteresting. Thank you Dr. Don!!!

Thank you. It might have been my question you were answering. I appreciate the Fuller deeper explanation. I see this RU-vid channel as the place to go when I listen to other educational channels and I'm left with questions because of their abbreviated or over simplified explanations of physics. I first really noticed that when you addressed the twin paradox without having to arbitrarily invoke acceleration. Would you consider doing a deep dive into the concepts are around Machs principle and the weird fact that acceleration is not relative? My guess is that it has something to do with the absolute geometry of space-time and the nature of causality, but I don't know.

Very interesting, thank you!

Thank you, this helped a lot!

I enjoyed your explanation of a force with two boats and also between two particles. This is the case of a repulsion force. I would like to see a similar explanation for an atractive force. Thank you.

Definitely need a deeper dive with explanations of how neutrinos interact using the weak force.

I would love a deeper dive series!

The hardest to understand of the forces, in an easy to understand video!

Toujours aussi intéressant MERCI

Dear Don, I'm an avid fan of the videos you release on a regular basis and grateful for the hard work you put into making particle physics more accesible to the audience. I was wondering if there would be on option of making a video regarding weak hypercharge and weak isospin with the perspective of how and why (to our best understanding) matter gains charge as this has been buggin me for a while now. I understand that currently our understanding and explanation is that there needs to be a conserved quantity for every symmetry (thank you Emmy) however you of all people should be aware how new perspective of various attempts of explaining the same phenomenon could lead to new insights for some people

Great video.

Thank you!

Best explanation of this ever

Nice one !

I think it is interesting that you talk about the weak force and mention quarks and Zs and Ws, but not a mention about the beta particle (electron) or the neutrino (and their anti parts) which are actually produced in the decay.

Wow! I had no idea. After all the physics I've learned and explanations I've heard, this was new to me.

That is an excellent explanation under 10 minutes.

Great video

Excellent deeper dive Excellent t-shirt 😎

Absolutely I want to hear more. 🤩 Another channel in Germany calls it always: 'Eine Tiefbohrung setzen' and I love it. 😊

I have watched this channel at 11 years old and this is amazing❤❤🎉

Thank you for the excellent video. Actually, you have defined the general concept of a force, which means to change a state of an object - a particle's position, its identity, its quantum state, etc. A physicist comes to this general concept of a force when he or she steps into the philosophy of physics.

Fascinating.

Awe at those opening and closing cards!!

I'm interested in quantum- and astrophysics since I was a child, but I never heared of the mass-distribution until now. You, Sir, blew my mind today.

Yes! I want to hear more! How what when where and why did we learn about this weak force?

Thanks!

Probably the most accurate physics channel on RU-vid. It could be that the neutral weak Z current is similar to the photon because they are paired before the electroweak phase transition, before the Higgs mechanism provides the longitudinal degree of freedom and mass to the Z boson. W bosons are also paired and charged and have a different effect. Also its probably called weak force because is 40 times weaker then strong nuclear force.

I feel like I'm pretty informed for someone not in the field. I knew none of this. Thank you so much for the insights, very cool!