The discussion centers on the interaction between electrons, specifically the interplay of electrostatic and weak forces. It is established that while electrons repel each other through electrostatic force, they also interact via weak force due to the electroweak interaction, which involves the Z0 boson. However, at temperatures significantly below the Z0 boson mass, the weak interaction's impact is negligible compared to electromagnetic interactions, particularly in atomic energy levels. The conversation also clarifies that electrons primarily exchange Z0 bosons, with W+ and W- bosons not contributing to electrostatic forces due to charge conservation laws.
PREREQUISITESPhysicists, students of particle physics, and anyone interested in the fundamental interactions between subatomic particles will benefit from this discussion.
Philipsmett said:The two electrons will be repelled by electrostatic force, but they interact with weak force, means that in addition to the electrostatic force between the electrons there will be weak force?
king vitamin said:due to the nature of the electroweak interaction, every electromagnetic interaction necessarily comes with a corresponding weak interaction, since every particle which interacts with a photon must also interact with the weak Z0 boson.
electrons exchange only Z0 bosons or also WE +/- bosons?PeterDonis said:This is true in principle, but leaves out a key point. At temperatures much below the Z0 boson mass (which is temperatures everywhere except inside high-energy experiments like the LHC, or possibly deep inside the cores of very hot stars), the amplitude for weak interaction is negligible compared to the amplitude for electromagnetic interaction. So, for example, if you are talking about the energy levels of electrons in atoms, weak interactions have no measurable impact (and "measurable" here means to eleven or twelve decimal places, accurate enough to see fairly high order QED effects). Similar remarks apply to any electromagnetic phenomenon encountered in daily life.
Philipsmett said:electrons exchange only Z0 bosons or also WE +/- bosons?
Philipsmett said:electrons exchange only Z0 bosons or also WE +/- bosons?
PeterDonis said:If you're talking about contributions to the electrostatic force between charged particles, there will be a Z0 boson exchange Feynman diagram possible (but, as I noted, it will be way too small to make any measurable contribution to the observed force), but no W+ or W- boson exchange diagrams, since that would obviously violate charge conservation. However, there are more complicated Feynman diagrams possible that could involve W+ or W- bosons as intermediates (but the contributions from those would be much smaller even than the Z0 boson exchange contribution).