* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Weak nuclear force

Blobrana · L

How strong is the weak force?

New measurement of the muon lifetime - the most precise determination of any lifetime - provides a high-accuracy value for a crucial parameter determining the strength of weak nuclear force. The experiments were performed by an international research team at the accelerator facility of the Paul Scherrer Institute. The results are about to be published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
The weak force is one of the four fundamental forces of Nature. Although we hardly encounter processes governed by the weak force in our everyday life, it is still of crucial importance; e.g., being responsible for the processes that make the Sun shine. An international research team led by scientists from the University of Illinois and Boston University performed experiments at the Paul Scherrer Institute (Villigen, Switzerland) that allowed them to determine a parameter crucial for the strength of the weak force with unprecedented accuracy of 0.6 parts per million. This so called Fermi constant is one of the fundamental natural constants needed for exact calculations of processes in the world of elementary particles.
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