The Fundamentals, Part 4: The Weak (but still really strong) Force

Our final interaction, and it’s a tough one. The weak force is probably the most subtle of the fundamental interactions; it’s responsible for beta decay, or the breaking down of particles like the neutron and proton through radiation. This kind of decay is the main force that powers our Sun, as well as making heavier elements possible. However, there’s a lot more to the weak interaction than meets the eye...

The Universe ain't what it used to be.

Do you remember that post I wrote on antimatter about a week ago? Near the conclusion, I speculated that there could be whole antimatter galaxies that science has yet to discover, and thus blew your mind with physics. Well, someone decided to take it a step further. The physicist Dragan Hajdukovic recently published a paper describing an alternate Big Bang theory, one that I found fascinating. In his theory, the universe eventually stops expanding, shrinks down, and then switches all of its matter into antimatter. 

....what.

That’s right: we would live in an antimatter universe. Let’s Tarantino this theory and see how Dragan came to this shocking conclusion.

Flux Capacitors are so overrated

The concept of time has fascinated mankind for a long… time. Our lives are focused on its flow: when to grow food, when to sleep, when to mate, when to bundle up. We reminisce and anticipate. The flow of time is not only part of our lives, it is our lives, and our deaths, and everything in between. This all-encompassing feel to time is what makes it remarkable. Yet, until the turn of the century (excluding big thinkers like H.G. Wells) time was realistically seen as an immovable force that could never be manipulated or changed. It was Albert Einstein himself who put an end to that notion when he published his Theories of Relativity.

Now, though this blog does not have the time to go into his thought process in detail*, Einstein’s basic message was that the three dimensions of space, as well as the singular dimension of time, were not separate entities, but rather woven into one another, creating what we now call: ‘space-time’. 

Stay with me, now. 

Physics is fascinating, I swear.

Physics is fascinating. I’m a physicist, so I’m a bit biased, but I always experience a sense of wonder when experiencing the world around me through such terms. 

Now, this love of science is not universal. Some have big issues with the whole idea; they usually have some valid points: 

1. I’m not a science person. It’s really never interested me in the least.

2. Math.

3. Why do I want to know how to calculate a ball’s flight path? No, honestly, why?

4. I tried to get into it in high school, but my teacher/class/notebook wasn’t good enough. 

Fig. 1: Fun.

Well, I have come up with some rebuttals. You see, in all of its supposed complication and intricacy, Physics is nothing more than the science of change. And, as many of us have experienced first-hand, change happens all the time; anyone who notices this is already a type of scientist. Just like the world around us, change itself is ever-changing, you could say. 

Or not. I probably wouldn’t, it’s a strange turn of phrase. But you understand. 

The goal of this blog is to share with you, dear reader, my sense of wonder and, more importantly, the reason why I’m a scientist. Most teachers fail to put the science in context, which is 100% of the fun. I’ll even admit, the fact that a ball goes up and down is not exciting in itself; anyone who took basic physics in high school will tell you that. Yet it was the idea that prompted Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and hundreds of other great minds to think long and hard about what makes the world go ‘round (in several cases, literally) and transform our universe from one of chance to one of intricate order, from one of blind faith to one of incredible utility. 

This transformation is never emphasized in introductory classes, even though it was the thing that got me and several other people I know hooked on physics, and more broadly science, in the first place. Moreover, observing how other things change, like the body, the stock market, or human emotions, make one just as scientific as a physicist, and those who excel at this study are just as capable as the great minds described above. 

Some would say that comparing a great writer/economist/artist and a great physicist is like comparing apples/bananas/kiwis and oranges, and in a way I suppose they’re right. But while the skill set might be different, the basic concepts that physicists use are the exact same concepts used in every other facet of academia. Anyone who doesn’t like physics, but is able to devote themselves to knowledge in some other way, is unknowingly a kind of physicist themselves. My hope is that by sharing my experiences in science with you, you’ll find a little beauty in it yourself. 

Except for the math part. There’s no getting past that one (See Fig. 1)


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