The Path of the Weak Force Theory

"But don't you often say that sometimes what is correct is actually illogical?" Yu Nanfeng added.

He is also troubled about the matter of a more powerful Particle Collider. In fact, Yue Yuan had mentioned this to him before Liu Miyan arrived, and his conclusion was that it was impossible to build one.

It's not that the materials technology isn't advanced enough, but rather that it's impossible with the current energy systems available to humankind, unless we actually build a Particle Collider that's 6684.6 Astronomical Unit long.

Building such a long collider is much more difficult than building Dyson Sphere; it's not something you can just decide to do.

He was afraid that Liu Miyan get stubborn and insist on pushing forward these unimaginable projects. After all, given the current situation, this seemed to be the only way. That's why Yu Nanfeng said that the theory might be wrong.

The goal was to prevent Liu Miyan from pursuing such an impossible project and instead focus on finding other research routes to bypass the so-called stronger Particle Collider.

"That depends on the logic." At this moment, Liu Miyan shook his head and said, "Sometimes what we call counterintuitive and illogical is only for ordinary people. We don't think the theories we derive step by step from basic theories are illogical."

He glanced at Yue Yuan, who was looking out the porthole, and continued, "I firmly believe that this theory is correct, and it is the path we should strive to achieve. We cannot give up just because we think it is impossible. Science is about constantly trying."

As she spoke, Liu Miyan glanced at Yu Nanfeng again, and seeing that he seemed to want to say something but hesitated, she knew that she had not yet been able to persuade him.

Yu Nanfeng is a leading figure in engineering physics. If we can't persuade him, there will be no progress on the Particle Collider project, because Yue Yuan will listen to his opinion, not to me, a Particle Physics.

Knowing this well Liu Miyan licked his lips and thought for a moment before speaking again, "To put it this way, our ancestors based their work on the predictions of the Standard Model, and after the Higgs Mechanism was proposed, they used the Higgs Mechanism to clear up the mass problem of the W and Z Boson that had plagued the electroweak unification process, and finally completed the electroweak theory."

So at that time we knew that the Electromagnetic Force and the Weak Interaction Force are essentially the same force, and the reason why they manifest in completely different ways is entirely due to the Higgs Mechanism.

Scientists at the time used the most powerful particle collider in human history to produce energy on the order of 100 GeV. They then successfully simulated the merging of the Weak Force and Electromagnetic Force in the Particle Collider, confirming the correctness of the Electroweak Unification Theory.

Similarly, the Standard Model also predicts the unified energy levels of the Strong Nuclear Force. This is precisely the greatness of our fundamental physics theories; we have been steadily moving forward under its guidance. It is a clear and definite path, and I believe Academician Yu is well aware of it as well.

Yu Nanfeng nodded. Although he wasn't a Particle Physics, he was certainly aware of these things.

The key to unifying the Electromagnetic Force and the Weak Interaction Force is the Higgs Mechanism. When the Higgs Mechanism fails, the W and Z Boson cannot acquire mass, and then the Electromagnetic Force and the Weak Interaction Force become completely identical in their manifestation. At this time, the propagator of the Weak Interaction Force also Turn into Light and, like the Electromagnetic Force, can be transmitted infinitely in the universe.

The verification of the Electroweak Unification Theory can be considered a major victory for the Standard Model, and it also proves the correctness of the Standard Model.

This is undeniable.

As for how the Higgs Mechanism failed, and why the failure of the Higgs Mechanism means that the Electromagnetic Force and the Weak Force are unified, we need to understand this from the perspective of the understanding of these two forces.

Electromagnetic Force is familiar to everyone.

It is the force that holds atoms together, the force that governs negatively charged electrons orbiting positively charged Atomic Nucleus, and the Electromagnetic Force that determines the orbital structure of electrons. It is also the force that governs all chemical laws.

Electromagnetic Force is very powerful, the second strongest of the Four Fundamental Forces. Its strength can counteract the pull of gravity on many things. For example, a comb that has been rubbed can pick up scraps of paper on a table. This is just an electromagnetic phenomenon that we can easily create with a little effort, yet it is stronger than the Gravity of the Earth on the scraps of paper, which shows how powerful it is.

At the scale of the Atomic Nucleus, Electromagnetic Force has absolute dominance over other forces.

Of all the Electromagnetic Force, light is undoubtedly the most familiar to humankind. When an atom is disturbed, the electrons around the Atomic Nucleus move irregularly, emitting light and other forms of radiation. Electromagnetic radiation emitted in the form of X-rays, radar, microwaves, or light is the purest form of electromagnetic radiation.

Radio waves, television screens, pressure, friction, elasticity, tension, and resistance—the things we encounter in our daily lives are basically different manifestations of Electromagnetic Force.

Electromagnetic Force is both commonplace and incredibly magical, as it is the only force that humans can directly observe. Seeing light, hearing sound, smelling odors, tasting flavors, and feeling pain are all caused by the interaction of Electromagnetic Force.

From this perspective, it seems that humans are born with the superpower to sense Electromagnetic Force.

Compared to the Electromagnetic Force, the Weak Force is much more difficult to deal with. The Weak Force is so transient and fleeting that people don't directly experience it in daily life, only feeling its indirect effects. For example, carrying a piece of uranium with you will soon result in radiation damage.

Humans cannot perceive the existence of the Weak Force in the same way they perceive the Electromagnetic Force, but it can be detected by scientific instruments. When detecting the radioactivity of Atomic Nucleus, the clicking sound emitted by the Geiger Counter is caused by the Weak Force.

The immense heat inside the Earth is partly generated by the decay of radioactive elements deep within the Earth's core, a manifestation of the Weak Force. Similarly, the heat released from the core of Nuclear Power Plant can generate enough Electric Force to power a city, which also involves the Weak Force.

So how did one force become two forces, one long-range and one short-range? The answer is phase transition. When the universe underwent its third phase transition, the Electroweak Force split into two, becoming the Electromagnetic Force and the Weak Force.

So why do they split into two? Why does a phase transition occur? What is the key factor? The answer is temperature and the Higgs Mechanism.

The universe went from the intense heat of the Big Bang to the emergence of the Four Fundamental Forces in a very short time, less than a second. In other words, the time span from the Big Bang to the decrease in background temperature is so short that it doesn't match the magnitude of the temperature drop. Therefore, there must have been an inflationary process after the Big Bang singularity for the observed phenomena to be consistent with this.

This is the origin of the Cosmic Inflation Theory.