Force, or interaction, is the fundamental and vital manifestation of the universe.
If the universe is filled with matter but there is no force of interaction between them, there would be no formation of nuclei, atoms, molecules … and galaxies, d ‘stars and planets.
Basic interactions of nature
Electromagnetic interaction or electromagnetic force is an interaction between charged particles, for example protons with the same positive charge repel each other, but attract electrons because electrons have a negative charge.
This interaction is not only the attraction or repulsion of the poles of the magnet due to the excess or lack of electrons, but most importantly, these are the attractive properties of this proton and this electron. that the electron can keep its orbit around the atomic nucleus. ., and therefore the atoms, molecules and, more generally, all the matter that we see every day, which compose us.
Electromagnetic interactions are transmitted by bosons or photons, or as we know them as light-transmitting particles. Light is precisely an electromagnetic wave of the correct wavelength to cause an image on the retina of the human eye. The photon itself has no mass, no electric charge, it only plays the role of transmitting electromagnetic interactions through its frequency of oscillation.
The frictional force generated when one object slides over another is due to the electromagnetic interaction of atomic particles of the contact surface, the elastic force of the spring or the tension of the string is also the electromagnetic interaction due to the change of area. changing the distance of atoms from each other leads to a change in the magnitude of the interaction from the initial state of equilibrium, the force produced by the muscles when lifting a heavy object or any other movement that is elastic muscle bundles so of course also electromagnetic interactions …
Strong interaction (also called strong nuclear force). The interaction is caused by bosons called gluons – a particle without mass and without charge. This is the binding interaction between quarks, the main components of the two types of baryons, protons and neutrons, which as we know are the particles that make up the nucleus of an atom.
It is thanks to this type of interaction that new baryons are formed and also bind the protons and neutrons of the atomic nucleus to each other (protons carry the same charge, so they generate electromagnetic forces that repel each other, thanks to the presence electrons (Neutrons, so the nucleus of an atom can exist).
The strong interaction is the strongest of nature’s basic interactions, but it also has the shortest range of effects.
Outside the radius of the atomic nucleus, the strong interaction does not work and of course this is also the reason why matter can exist today because with the magnitude of this interaction it can act. As for the electromagnetic interaction, there will be no existence of electron shell atoms because they will be crushed by the attraction between the nuclei themselves (because this force is much stronger than the electromagnetic repulsion ). between nuclei).
Weak interaction (or weak nuclear force) plays a role in beta decay of neutrons, thus causing nuclear decay such as radiation, fission. Neutrons themselves are unstable in isolation, they are only stable when they are bound to a proton.
On their own, neutrons can absorb or emit W or Z bosons and undergo beta decay to form a proton, electron, and neutron fraction.
The nuclei of heavy elements have many protons and respectively need many neutrons to prevent the protons from repelling each other. But at the same time, when there are a lot of neutrons, there will be neutrons isolated from the proton, beyond the reach of the strong interaction.
Then the weak interaction causes them to decay and make the nucleus unstable. The elements whose nuclei exhibit this phenomenon are called radioactive elements. The heavier the nucleus, the more unstable, and therefore the weak interaction is what maintains the number of elements in the finite universe, and not infinite.
Standard Model of Particle Physics
These three types of interactions are now uniformly described in the Standard Model of particle physics. According to the Standard Model, at sufficiently high energies these interactions are consistent, although, as already stated, they appear to be quite different in terms of mechanism.
In the cosmological model based on the Big Bang theory, the first phase of the universe from the age of the universe is from 10 to 43 seconds up to 20 to 36 seconds, the universe goes through a period known as the name of the great epoch of unification. the three types of interactions mentioned above are not separate from each other.
Immediately after the heyday of unification comes the era of youth flight, when the strong interaction broke apart but the other two interactions remain unified, known as the electroweak interaction. It was not until the Age of Quarks, when the age of the universe was 10 to 12 years old, that the universe cooled enough for the electromagnetic and weak interactions to separate.
Interactions tend to attract objects and mass particles towards each other. It is the weakest of nature’s four basic interactions on a certain object, but it is the one with the furthest range of effects.
It plays a major role in the formation of the great structures of the universe, from stars, planets, asteroids, satellites to galaxies, clusters and superaggregates of galaxies. The Earth and the planets move around the Sun also due to the effect of this type of interaction.
Despite being the weakest force, gravity not only has the longest range but also an unstoppable force, with every weightless man-made environment or gravity-isolating material in sci-fi movies.
This cannot happen not because of technology but because of the general principle of the universe. For the same reason, gravity is also the force that causes the most violent phenomena in the universe, such as the collapse of matter to form neutron stars or black holes and supermassive black holes.
In this phenomenon, thanks to the large amount of matter, the gravitational force is sufficient to overcome the electromagnetic force, and the strong interaction causes the destruction of the structure of matter. Gravity is very common in everyday life because we can stand on the ground and objects thrown high fall due to gravity.
Some of the so-called forces such as the resistance of the ground when standing on it or the Archimedean ground force in a liquid, are only indirect manifestations of gravity.
The reason why this universal force is mentioned last in the article is because it is the only one of the four fundamental interactions of nature that is not included in the Standard Model.
Is there a fifth fundamental interaction?
The existence of a fifth interaction of nature is still considered by many scientists, especially since the presence of “dark matter” has been confirmed. To date, there have been a number of experiments showing the involvement of a strange variation that was considered such a small interaction that has never been known.
But so far the fifth interaction does not have a specific description. Thus, the number of fundamental interactions in nature is still only four, three being unified in the Standard Model and the gravitational interactions standing independently of them.
