Strong Interaction – Strong Force
The strong interaction or strong force is one of the four fundamental forces and involves the exchange of the vector gauge bosons known as gluons. In general, the strong interaction is very complicated because it significantly varies with distance. The strong nuclear force holds most ordinary matter together because it confines quarks into hadron particles such as protons and neutrons. Moreover, the strong force is the force that can hold a nucleus together against the enormous forces of repulsion (electromagnetic force) of the protons is strong indeed. From this point of view, we have to distinguish between:
- Fundamental Strong Force. The fundamental strong force, or the strong force, is a very short range (less than about 0.8 fm, the radius of a nucleon) force that acts directly between quarks. This force holds quarks together to form protons, neutrons, and other hadron particles. The strong interaction is mediated by the exchange of massless particles called gluons that act between quarks, antiquarks, and other gluons.
- Residual Strong Force. The residual strong force, also known as the nuclear force, is a very short range (about 1 to 3 fm) force, which acts to hold neutrons and protons together in nuclei. In nuclei, this force acts against the enormous repulsive electromagnetic force of the protons. The term residual is associated with the fact that it is the residuum of the fundamental strong interaction between the quarks that make up the protons and neutrons. The residual strong force acts indirectly through the virtual π and ρ mesons, which transmit the force between nucleons that holds the nucleus together.
Weak Interaction – Weak Force
The weak interaction or weak force is one of the four fundamental forces and involves the exchange of the intermediate vector bosons, the W and the Z. Since these bosons are very massive (on the order of 80 GeV, the uncertainty principle dictates a range of about 10-18meters which is less than the diameter of a proton. As a result, the weak interaction takes place only at very small, sub-atomic distances.
The weak interaction is responsible for some nuclear phenomena, such as beta decay, which can be understood as the weak force operating on the quarks within the neutron. One of two down quarks changes into an up quark by emitting a W– boson (carries away a negative charge). The W– boson then decays into a beta particle and an antineutrino. This process is equivalent to how a neutrino interacts with a neutron.