RE: When and How Strong?

[brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net>]

At 22:46 10/3/98 CST6CDT5, Sue Willis wrote:
> ... Since the Coulomb
> repulsion would be expected to blow the nucleus apart, it was
> obvious that there must be some other, much stronger force,
> that was holding it together. It is stronger than the E-M force
> by a factor of alpha (the fine structure constant), or 1/137;
> I don't know who first called it the strong force. The weak force
> is called weak because it *is* weak; on the same scale it has a 
> relative strength of about 10^(-13). (The strengths of the
> interactions vary with energy, in general; these comparisons are
> for interactions at zero energy. The weak force, in particular,
> is much stronger at masses larger than the W and Z masses).

> 		Sue Willis

Suzanne here describes force ratios between em and strong force.
I read that there are particles insensitive to the strong force - 
to these, I suppose the strong force would be no force: this is
the group of leptons which includes the electron, muon, tau, their
neutrinos and all of their antiparticles (12 in all)

She mentions energy - and this seems to be related to the quantum 
field idea of the force exchange carrier. If there is a quantum
 field whose carriers are available in discrete quantized sizes, 
we have a way of explaining the range of forces. 

It is Yukawa's proposition that we can explain the range of force 
carriers by means of their energy or mass. 
I take it that this is an implication of the idea that mass or energy, 
and range or velocity or lifetime are connected for hypothetical 
particles like these force carriers.

The exchange carrier of em, the 
photon is 'massless' and so has infinite range.

The moderately heavy meson limits the range of the strong nuclear force.

The exchange carrier of the weak force is described as the intermediate 
(or mediating) vector (or unit) boson, a creation of Yukawa's.
The weak nuclear force has an even shorter range than the others, so its
carrier, or intermediate vector boson (of three kinds, W+, W-, and Zero)
 is a heavier particle type. 

(Though I am using an elementary article of Rubbia's as a source, I see 
that I am close to the vortex where conceptual models smear and simple
explanations no longer suffice!)

Brian
brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net>
Altus OK