We know that the electromagnetic force can transfer heat and make the temperatures go up and down. Entire thermodynamics is based on this heat transfer. My question is whether the electroweak force by itself can do the same thing? Can the electroweak force transfer heat in the total absence of electromagnetic radiation? Is there any experimental evidence to support or reject this idea?
The spontaneous symmetry breaking causes the massless W3 and B bosons to coalesce together into two different bosons – the Zo boson, and the photon. Before this symmetry breaking, photons did not have any independent existence at all. What existed before this symmetry breaking were W bosons of weak isospin from SU(2) (W1, W2, and W3), and the B boson of weak hypercharge from U(1), respectively, all of which are massless. Are any of these particles capable of transfering heat? I very much doubt. I think prior to symmetry breaking, following energy temperature formula which is based on Boltzmann constant could not be used, because photons did not exist and this formula is applicable only to photons.
T (deg.K) = E (in eV) x 11604.44845
So the question is whether there was any heat transfer in the early universe prior to separation of electromagnetic force from the electroweak force?
The electroweak force includes the electromagnetic force, so it can transfer energy. The weak force (also included in the electroweak force) can also transfer energy. The transferred energy can result in heat.
Malcolm,
Suppose electroweak force is focused on a bulb of a thermometer, would the mercury inside the bulb absorb the heat and show the temperature rise?
If the particle carrying the weak force interacts with a particle in a thermometer bulb (it could) it can give it energy and there would be a temperature rise. The temperature rise is likely to be so small you would never be able to measure it. Your question doesn't really make sense. Temperature is a statistical quantity to do with large numbers of particles, whereas the weak force is a force between individual particles. The force transmits energy, not temperature. You need to study nuclear physics and understand the weak force better (and so do I). The weak force usually operates (and the particles only travel) over a distance of one ten-millionth of the diameter of an atom, so is not significant in the question you are asking. See the extract below from the Encyclopaedia Britannica, for instance
The W particle is one of two massive electrically charged subatomic particles that are thought to transmit the weak force—that is, the force that governs radioactive decay in certain kinds of atomic nuclei. According to the Standard Model of particle physics that describes the fundamental particles and their interactions, the W particles and their electrically neutral partner, the Z particle, are the carrier particles (the gauge bosons) of the weak force. The discovery of the W and Z particles—also referred to as intermediate vector bosons—confirmed the electroweak theory, the joint framework describing the electromagnetic and weak forces.
The existence of intermediate vector bosons and their properties were predicted in the late 1960s by the physicists Sheldon Lee Glashow, Steven Weinberg, and Abdus Salam. Their theoretical efforts, now called the electroweak theory, explain that the electromagnetic force and the weak force, long considered separate entities, are actually manifestations of the same basic interaction. Just as the electromagnetic force is transmitted by means of carrier particles known as photons, the weak force is exchanged via three types of intermediate vector bosons. Two of these bosons bear either a positive or a negative electric charge and are designated W+ and W−, respectively. The third type, called Z0, is electrically neutral. Unlike photons, each intermediate vector boson has a large mass, and this characteristic is responsible for the extremely short range of the weak force, whose influence is confined to a distance of only about 10−17 metre. (As established by quantum mechanics, the range of any given force tends to be inversely proportional to the mass of the particle transmitting it.)
Malcolm,
Thank you for your response.
The temperature rise is likely to be so small you would never be able to measure it.
I tend to think that temperature rise would be absolutely zero in the absence of photon. And if there is no temperature rise, there cannot be any heat transfer at all, because the heat units kcal and Btu are defined for the temperature rise of 1 deg.C and 1 deg.F respectively. But there will certainly be very large amount of energy transfer (W boson has mass of 80.4 GeV and Z boson has 91.2 GeV) between interacting particles, but this will be a cold energy transfer. Its like transfering liquid petrol (gas) from one container to another without any heat transfer. When the massless photon interacts with mercury in the thermometer, it actually unites with the orbiting electrons of mercury atom which gets energized and jumps the orbits. This increases the volume of the mercury and we see the temperature rise. W and Z bosons cannot interact with the mercury electron in the same way and the volume of mercury would not incresase because there would be no heat transfer. Therefore following formula we use for calculating temperature from energy of the particle is applicable only to photon and no other particle.
T (deg.K) = E (in eV) x 11604.44845
Significance of my question lies in understanding the hot big bang theory. If the electroweak force cannot transfer heat or raise temperatue, then electro-nuclear force (electroweak unified with strong force) can also not transfer heat or raise temperature. And we know that gravity cannot transfer heat or raise temperature. So the final unified force including gravity must be a cold force with energy of order 10^19 GeV.
The weak force has to do with beta decay, so it is not a "cold" energy transfer, the W or Z gives it's energy to changing the nucleus and energy is given out as a fast electron. This travels a significant distance and will increase the energy and thus temperature of the system. If there are lots of W or Z, and thus lots of beta particles, the temperature increase will be noticeable.
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