Fundamental forces in the universe

Force, or interaction, is the fundamental and vital manifestation of the universe.

Illustration. 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, stars and planets. Basic interactions of nature Electromagnetic interaction or electromagnetic force is the 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 a matter of attraction or repulsion of the magnet poles due to the excess or lack of electrons, but the most important thing is that it is the attractive properties of this proton and electron that the electron can keep its orbit around the atomic nucleus. , and thus the atoms, molecules and, more generally, all the matter we see every day, that make us up. 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 right wavelength to produce images on the retina of the human eye. The photon itself has neither mass nor charge, it only plays the role of transmitting electromagnetic interactions through its oscillation frequency. The frictional force generated when one object slides over another is due to the electromagnetic interaction of the atomic particles of the contact surface, the elastic force of a spring or the tension of a string is also an electromagnetic interaction due to the change in the surface area. changing the distances of the atoms from each other leads to a change in the magnitude of the interaction from the initial steady state, the force produced by muscles when you lift a heavy object or any other movement that is elastic muscle bundles, so of course there’s also an electromagnetic interaction… Strong interaction (also known as strong nuclear force). The interaction is caused by bosons called gluons – a type of particle with no mass and no charge. This is the bonding 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 in the atomic nucleus together (protons carry the same charge, so they generate an electromagnetic force that repels each other, thanks to the presence of electrons). neutrons, so the nucleus of an atom can exist). The strong interaction is the strongest of the basic interactions of nature, but it also has the shortest range of effects. Simulation of forces in the universe. Outside the radius of the atomic nucleus, the strong interaction does not work and of course that is also the reason why matter can exist today because with the magnitude of this interaction it can act. As far as the electromagnetic interaction goes, there will be no existence of atoms with electron shells because they will be crushed by the attraction between the nuclei themselves (because this force is much stronger than the electromagnetic repulsion). between nuclei). The weak interaction (or weak nuclear force) plays a role in causing beta decay of neutrons, thereby causing nuclear decay such as radiation and fission. The neutrons themselves are unstable in isolation, they are stable only when bound to protons. Stand-alone, neutrons can absorb or emit W or Z bosons and undergo beta decay to form a proton, an electron, and a neutron fraction. The nuclei of heavy elements have many protons and, respectively, require many neutrons to keep the protons from repelling each other. But at the same time when there are many neutrons, there will be neutrons isolated from the proton, out of the range of the strong interaction. Then the weak interaction causes them to decay and make the nucleus unstable. Elements whose nuclei have this phenomenon are called radioactive elements. The heavier the nucleus, the more unstable it is, and so the weak interaction is what keeps the number of elements in the universe finite, 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 very different in mechanism. In the cosmological model based on the Big Bang theory, the first stage of the universe from the age of the universe is 10–43s to the time of 20-36s the universe undergoes a period known as the great unification epoch. , in which the three types of interactions mentioned above have not been separated from each other. Immediately after the great unification era is the electroweak era, when the strong interaction has separated but the remaining two interactions are still united, called the electroweak interaction. It wasn’t until the quark era, when the age of the universe was 10-12s, that the universe cooled down enough for the electromagnetic and weak interactions to separate. Illustration. Gravitational interaction (or gravity) Interactions tend to pull objects and particles of mass toward each other. This is the weakest of the four basic interactions of nature on a certain object, but it is the one with the furthest range of effects. It plays a major role in forming the great structures of the universe, from stars, planets, asteroids, satellites to galaxies, clusters and superclusters of galaxies. The Earth and the planets revolve around the Sun also due to the effect of this type of interaction. Despite being the weakest force, gravity has not only the longest range, but also an unstoppable force, every man-made weightless environment or gravitation-isolating material in sci-fi movies. thought is unscientific. It 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, typically 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 enough to overcome the electromagnetic force and the strong interaction causes the structure of matter to be destroyed. Gravity is very common to everyday life as we can stand on the ground and objects that are thrown high fall because of gravity. Some so-called forces, such as the resistance of the ground when you are standing on it or the Archimedes earth force in a liquid, are just indirect manifestations of gravity. The reason 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 believed 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 thought to be such a small interaction that has never been known. But so far, the fifth interaction has not been described in any way. Thus, the number of fundamental interactions of nature is still only four, with three unified in the standard model and gravitational interactions standing independently of them.