weak force

American  

noun

Physics.

1. a force between elementary particles that causes certain processes that take place with low probability, as radioactive beta-decay and collisions between neutrinos and other particles.

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weak force Scientific  

/ wēk /

1. The fundamental force that acts between leptons and is involved in the decay of hadrons. The weak nuclear force is responsible for nuclear beta decay (by changing the flavor of quarks) and for neutrino absorption and emission. It is mediated by the intermediate vector bosons (the W boson and the Z boson), and is weaker than the strong nuclear force and the electromagnetic force but stronger than gravity. Some scientists believe that the weak nuclear force and the electromagnetic force are both aspects of a single force called the electroweak force.

2. Also called weak nuclear force weak interaction

3. Compare electromagnetic force

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weak force Cultural  

1. One of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is involved primarily in the phenomenon of radioactivity. (See standard model and strong force.)

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Etymology

Origin of weak force

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

The axion is distinctly different from another lightweight, weakly-interacting particle, the neutrino, which only interacts through gravity and the weak force and totally ignores the electromagnetic force.

From Science Daily • Nov. 21, 2024

Of the four fundamental forces, gravity and the weak force "are generally not important for materials," he says.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2024

The electromagnetic force is conveyed by the photon, the strong force by the gluon, and the weak force by particles called the W boson and Z boson.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 27, 2024

When scientists access such “young cosmos” states with particle accelerators, they see electromagnetism and the weak force acting as one single force—the electroweak force—suggesting that in the early universe, these two forces were one.

From Scientific American • Aug. 19, 2023

Nevertheless, it seemed that the weak force did obey the combined symmetry CP.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking