A Primeval Force Once Ruled the Universe—and Scientists Have Revived It

 

In the very early, very hot moments of the universe, the electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces were actually the same force—the electroweak interaction.
Scientists can now study this interaction using particle accelerators, such as the LHC, and a new study recently fined tuned the precision measurements of what is known as the electroweak mixing angle, which tells us a lot—both about these forces and about how the Higgs mechanism delineates mass among particles.
This study also highlights the importance of building a future electron-positron collider (a.k.a. a “Higgs factory”), which the particle physics world considers a top priority.








Today, the universe as we know it is governed by four fundamental forces: the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, electromagnetism, and gravity. However, these four forces aren’t exactly as distinct as you think. Electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force, for example, were once the same force—the electroweak interaction.

This force only existed in the early days of the universe—or, should we say, early trillionths of a second of the universe—before the Higgs mechanism (also known fantastically as the Mexican hat mechanism, due to its shape) separated the two forces and applied mass to the Z and W bosons. Those bosons, in turn, carry the weak nuclear force, which is the thing responsible for radioactive decay. The electroweak force only existed at temperatures approaching 1015 Kelvin (about 1,800,000,000,000,000 ºF), which is why you’re not seeing much electroweak action nowadays.



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