FORCES
The four (4) fundamental forces that govern all physical interactions in the universe are: 1.Gravitational, 2.Electromagnetic, 3.Weak Nuclear, and 4.Strong Nuclear. Each one is theoretically associated with a force-carrying particle (a boson), which can be considered the signal or carrier of that force.
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What is a boson?
Bosons are one of the two fundamental classes of subatomic particles (the other being fermions)
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THE GRAVITATIONAL SIGNAL
The gravitational force is the result of any object with energy/stress/mass curving spacetime. The signal is the Gravitational Wave- a ripple in the very fabric of spacetime that propagates outward at the speed of light when a massive object accelerates (like two black holes merging). Gravitational waves are fundamentally different from electromagnetic waves because they are a distortion of spacetime itself, rather than just a wave moving through spacetime. Their direct detection in 2015 opened a totally new way to study the universe.
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What's a graviton?
1. GRAVITY • The Graviton
This is the outlier. We know gravity is one of the four forces, but it doesn't fit neatly into the Standard Model yet. Physicists predict there must be a boson for gravity, called the graviton (spin-2), but we have never detected one.
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THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SIGNAL
This is the one you are most familiar with. Electrical signals are just one physical manifestation of this force. The electromagnetic force is the result of charged particles interacting. The signal is a photon (light particle). A flow of electricity, a radio wave, or visible light are all different aspects of electromagnetic radiation (waves of photons).
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What's a photon?
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2. ELECTROMAGNETISM • The Photon
This is the most familiar one. When two magnets repel or an electron orbits a nucleus, they are exchanging streams of virtual photons. The photon is the boson that tells electrically charged particles how to behave.
THE NUCLEAR SIGNAL
The weak and strong forces operate only over sub-atomic distances. They do not produce long-range, continuous wave signals like light or gravity that we can easily detect and classify on a macroscopic scale. Their influence is carried by their specific bosons: (W and Z Bosons).
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What are W and Z bosons?
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3. WEAK NUCLEAR FORCE • W and Z Boson
This force is responsible for radioactive decay (like in the sun). It is mediated by the heavy W and Z bosons. Unlike the photon (which is massless and travels forever), these bosons are heavy, which limits the range of this force to tiny subatomic distances.
What's a gluon?
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4. STRONG NUCLEAR FORCE • The Gluon
This force holds quarks together to make protons and neutrons. The carrier is the gluon. It is the "glue" of the nucleus. Without this boson exchange, atomic nuclei would fly apart due to the repulsion of the proton.
THE FORCE MESSENGERS
To understand how the four fundamental forces interact, you have to stop thinking of a "force" as just a push or a pull, and start thinking of it as an exchange. In particle physics, forces don't just happen across empty space. They are transmitted by passing bosons back and forth between matter particles (fermions). These bosons are often called "force-carriers" or "messenger particles". It is the "message" being passed between them that says, "Move away!" or "Come closer!" This "exchange" is how bosons mediate forces. Matter particles (fermions) are constantly emitting and absorbing these boson packets, which dictates how they stick together or push apart. Once you know that forces are actually just bosons in motion, you can map the four fundamental forces to their specific carriers: 1. Gravity (The Graviton), 2. Electromagnetism (The Photon), 3. The Strong Nuclear Force (The Gluon), and 4. The Weak Nuclear Force (W and Z Bosons).
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4. WEAK NUCLEAR FORCE
W and Z Boson
This force is responsible for radioactive decay (like in the sun). It is mediated by the heavy W and Z bosons. Unlike the photon (which is massless and travels forever), these bosons are heavy, which limits the range of this force to tiny subatomic distances.