askchapo

Here is a relatively simpler encyclopedia article on the Standard Model which includes info about the weak nuclear force.

I like the fact that the types of quarks are called “flavors.”

I’m not a nuclear physicist but just think of the weak nuclear force as the one that causes radioactive things to radioactive decay over time. The strong nuclear force is the one that 1) binds quarks and 2) binds nuclei together and requires extreme forces to overcome (fusion in stars, fission in bombs).

Another thing that is way out of my wheelhouse is that in advanced particle physics there is a theoretical unification of all the forces except for gravity. First electricity and magnetism were unified, meaning they are both manifestations of the same underlying force; magnetic fields are “just” the relativistic effects of electric fields. Then through some mathematics it was shown that there is unification of the weak force in this, now called electroweak, and eventually also the strong force is lumped in.

It is very tempting to find a way to unify gravity with a theory of quantum gravity and graviton particle, but so far it has eluded theorists. Not for lack of trying. It’s possible that gravity is really just different. But I think most physicists believe gravity to be unified with the rest.