Editing Electroweak interaction (section)

{{short description|Unified description of electromagnetism and the weak interaction}}
{{Standard model of particle physics|cTopic=Some models}}

In [[particle physics]], the '''electroweak interaction''' or '''electroweak force''' is the [[unified field theory|unified description]] of two of the [[fundamental interaction]]s of nature: [[electromagnetism|electromagnetism (electromagnetic interaction)]] and the [[weak interaction]]. Although these two forces appear very different at everyday low energies, the theory models them as two different aspects of the same force. Above the [[electroweak scale|unification energy]], on the order of 246&nbsp;[[GeV]],<ref group="lower-alpha">The particular number 246&nbsp;GeV is taken to be the [[vacuum expectation value]] <math>v = (G_\text{F} \sqrt{2})^{-1/2}</math> of the [[Higgs field]] (where <math>G_\text{F}</math> is the [[Fermi coupling constant]]).</ref> they would merge into a single force. Thus, if the temperature is high enough – approximately 10<sup>15</sup>&nbsp;[[Kelvin|K]] – then the electromagnetic force and weak force merge into a combined electroweak force.

During the [[quark epoch]] (shortly after the [[Big Bang]]), the electroweak force split into the electromagnetic and [[weak force]]. It is thought that the required temperature of 10<sup>15</sup>&nbsp;K has [[Orders of magnitude (temperature)|not been seen widely throughout the universe]] since before the quark epoch, and currently the highest human-made temperature in thermal equilibrium is around {{val|5.5|e=12|u=K}} (from the [[Large Hadron Collider]]).

[[Sheldon Glashow]],<ref>Glashow, S. (1959). "The renormalizability of vector meson interactions." ''Nucl. Phys.'' '''10''', 107.</ref> [[Abdus Salam]],<ref>{{cite journal |first1=A. |last1=Salam |author-link=Abdus Salam   |first2=J. C. |last2=Ward |title=Weak and electromagnetic interactions |journal=Nuovo Cimento |volume=11 |issue=4 |year=1959 |pages=568–577 |doi= 10.1007/BF02726525|bibcode=1959NCim...11..568S |s2cid=15889731 }}</ref> and [[Steven Weinberg]]<ref name=Weinberg1967>{{cite journal | last1 = Weinberg | first1 = S | year = 1967 | title = A Model of Leptons | url = http://astrophysics.fic.uni.lodz.pl/100yrs/pdf/12/066.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120112142352/http://astrophysics.fic.uni.lodz.pl/100yrs/pdf/12/066.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2012-01-12 | journal = Phys. Rev. Lett. | volume = 19 | issue = 21 | pages = 1264–66 | doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.19.1264 | bibcode = 1967PhRvL..19.1264W }}</ref> were awarded the 1979 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] for their contributions to the unification of the weak and electromagnetic interaction between [[elementary particle]]s, known as the '''Weinberg–Salam theory'''.<ref>
{{cite book
 |author=S. Bais
 |year=2005
 |title=The Equations: Icons of knowledge
 |page=[https://archive.org/details/veryspecialrelat0000bais/page/84 84]
 |isbn=0-674-01967-9
 |url=https://archive.org/details/veryspecialrelat0000bais/page/84
 }}</ref><ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1979/
 |title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 1979
 |publisher=[[The Nobel Foundation]]
 |access-date=2008-12-16
}}</ref> The existence of the electroweak interactions was experimentally established in two stages, the first being the discovery of [[neutral current]]s in neutrino scattering by the [[Gargamelle]] collaboration in 1973, and the second in 1983 by the [[UA1]] and the [[UA2]] collaborations that involved the discovery of the [[W and Z bosons|W and Z]] [[gauge boson]]s in proton–antiproton collisions at the converted [[Super Proton Synchrotron]]. In 1999, [[Gerardus 't Hooft]] and [[Martinus Veltman]] were awarded the Nobel prize for showing that the electroweak theory is [[renormalizable]].