W-ZED: Weak Nuclear Force / Boson Carrier
Nuclear & Particle Physics arc, page 173 of 193. Back to The Pixelated Physics Universe
Who they are
The weak force is carried by particles heavy enough to keep it short-ranged. The W and Z bosons carry the weak force; the W lets quarks change flavour, as in beta decay. Both found at CERN in 1983. W-ZED wears it in pixel art on a unisex tee.
W-ZED is a character of the Nuclear & Particle Physics arc: drawn in pixels, ruled by one piece of real physics, and never allowed to break it.
The physics
The weak force is weak at low energies because its carriers, the W and Z bosons, are very heavy, not because their coupling is small. The mass of the W sets the Fermi constant and limits the force's range to about a thousandth of a proton's size.
$$ \begin{gathered} M_W = M_Z\cos\theta_W \quad (\text{tree level}) \\ \frac{G_F}{\sqrt{2}} = \frac{g^{2}}{8M_W^{2}} \quad (\hbar = c = 1) \\ R \sim \frac{\hbar}{M_W c} \approx 2.5\times10^{-18}\ \text{m} \end{gathered} $$
| Symbol | Meaning | SI unit |
|---|---|---|
| $M_W, M_Z$ | W, Z boson masses (quoted in GeV/c²) | kg |
| $\theta_W$ | weak mixing angle | rad |
| $G_F$ | Fermi coupling constant (natural units, ħ = c = 1) | GeV⁻² |
| $g$ | SU(2) gauge coupling | 1 |
| $R$ | approximate range of the weak force | m |
Sources
- PDG 2024 listings — W boson (mass world average and CDF tension)
- CDF Collaboration (2022) High-precision measurement of the W boson mass, Science 376, 170
- UA1 (Arnison et al. 1983) observation of W, Phys. Lett. B 122, 103
- NobelPrize.org — The Nobel Prize in Physics 1984 (Rubbia, van der Meer)
- NobelPrize.org — The Nobel Prize in Physics 1979 (Glashow, Salam, Weinberg)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — W particle
- CERN — The Standard Model
- PDG 2024 listings — neutron (mean life 878.4 ± 0.5 s; beam vs bottle note)
Crossovers
W-ZED meets Decay Dancer (Weak Nuclear Force / Beta Decay). Decay Dancer turns a neutron into a proton. W-ZED carries the change: the W boson lets a down quark become an up quark, emitting an electron and an antineutrino.
W-ZED meets Reinessa (Catching the Ghost 1956). W-ZED's weak force is why Reinessa's neutrinos so rarely interact. In 1956 she still caught one: an antineutrino hitting a proton to make a neutron and a positron.
W-ZED meets Neutrina Fade (Neutrino Ghost Matter). Neutrina Fade's flavour changes mean neutrinos have mass. W-ZED's weak interactions are how they are produced and detected, each time in a definite flavour.
Wear the lore
- W-ZED – Weak Nuclear Force / Boson Carrier Physics T-Shirt
- Related infographic poster: The November Revolution – Plate 053 Physics Poster
Concept keywords: Weak Nuclear Force / Boson Carrier, W-ZED, Nuclear & Particle Physics, physics lore, Pixelated Physics