The weak nuclear force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It governs radioactive beta decay, helps drive nuclear fusion inside stars, and operates only over subatomic distances of about 10⁻¹⁸ metres. It is carried by the massive W and Z bosons — and it is one of only two forces that neutrinos can feel.
This comprehensive reference covers beta decay and flavour-changing currents, the electroweak unification by Glashow, Weinberg, and Salam, the discovery of the W and Z bosons at CERN, the confirmation of neutrino mass through oscillation experiments, and how coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) — first measured by the COHERENT collaboration in 2017 — transfers measurable momentum to atomic nuclei. That momentum transfer is the physical foundation of neutrinovoltaic energy conversion.
