electroweak theory

American  

[ih-lek-troh-week theer-ee] / ɪˈlɛk troʊˌwik ˌθɪər i /

noun

Physics.

1. a gauge theory that unifies quantum electrodynamics with the theory of weak interactions.

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Etymology

Origin of electroweak theory

First recorded in 1975–80; electro- + weak; alternative names after U.S. physicist Steven Weinberg (1933–2021) and Pakistani physicist Abdus Salam (1926–96)

Example Sentences

The Z 0 is one of the carrier particles for the weak nuclear force that has now been created in the laboratory with characteristics predicted by electroweak theory.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

So successful have QCD and the electroweak theory been that, taken together, they are called the Standard Model.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

But we’re far from being able to verify the theory—much further than we were from verifying the electroweak theory 40 years ago.

From Scientific American • May 14, 2015

Until late 1982 these subatomic particles were known only in theory -- the electroweak theory, which won Nobel Prizes in 1979 for Glashow and two fellow physicists.

From Time Magazine Archive

Most physicists believed that a theory called quantum chromodynamics, which explains the strong force, would eventually be encompassed with the electroweak theory under one grand unified theory.

From Time Magazine Archive