electroweakteoria

Electroweak theory is a fundamental framework in particle physics that unifies two of the four fundamental forces: electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force. Developed by Sheldon Glashow, Abdus Salam, and Steven Weinberg, it describes how these two seemingly different forces are actually manifestations of a single, more fundamental "electroweak" force at high energies.

At low energies, this electroweak force separates into the familiar electromagnetic force, mediated by photons, and the weak nuclear force, mediated by the W and Z bosons. The theory postulates that at extremely high temperatures and energies, such as those present in the early universe, the electromagnetic and weak forces are indistinguishable. As the universe cooled, a process called spontaneous symmetry breaking occurred, causing the electroweak symmetry to break and leading to the distinct forces we observe today.

A key prediction of electroweak theory is the existence of the W and Z bosons, which are massive particles responsible for mediating the weak force. These bosons were experimentally discovered at CERN in the early 1980s, providing strong evidence for the validity of the theory. Electroweak theory is a crucial component of the Standard Model of particle physics, which describes all known elementary particles and their interactions.