In physics, weak decay is the process of decomposing a heavier particle into lighter particles (plus energy) by means of a weak interaction. Physics (from the Greek, φυσικός (phusikos), natural, and φύσις (phusis), nature) is the science of nature in the broadest sense. ... The weak nuclear force or weak interaction is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. ...
A typical example is that of Beta decay. In nuclear physics, beta decay (sometimes called neutron decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle (an electron or a positron) is emitted. ...
Fundamental weak interactions occur for all fundamental particles except gluons and photons.
The weak interaction was first recognized in cataloging the types of nuclear radioactive decay chains, as alpha, beta, and gamma.
Beta decay is a process in which a neutron (two down quarks and one up) disappears and is replaced by a proton (two up quarks and one down), an electron, and an anti-electron neutrino.
The weak nuclear force or weak interaction is one of the four fundamental forces of nature.
Although the weak nuclear force used to be described by Fermi's theory of a contact four-fermion interaction, today we know that it is mediated by the W and Z bosons.
The Standard Model of particle physics describes the electromagnetic force and the weak nuclear force as two different aspects of a single electroweak force, the theory of which was developed around 1968 by Sheldon Glashow, Abdus Salam and Steven Weinberg (more at W and Z bosons).
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