Cosmology serves to explain the origin of the universe. The concept explores the functioning of the world through the four fundamental forces which are gravity, electromagnetic forces, weak nuclear force, and strong nuclear force. The grand unification theory suggests that these forces are interrelated thus they supplement each other in maintaining the universe in a state of equilibrium so as to sustain life on earth. An exploration of cosmology in an attempt to understand the origin of the fundamental forces, along with a consideration of each of them in-depth, reveals that although unique, each explains how matter interacts in the universe.
Origin of the Forces
Long ago, when the earth was still very young, the four fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetic forces, strong and weak forces: worked together as a single force in the presence of high temperatures. However, a decrease in temperature led to the splitting of these forces, being led by gravity. Electromagnetic forces, strong nuclear force, and weak nuclear force continued working together until a decrease in temperature led to the separation of these forces yet again with the strong nuclear force separating first. Subsequently, a decrease in temperature led to electromagnetic force separating from weak nuclear force and eventually all forces were independent of each other. This process is referred to as spontaneous symmetry breaking while the theories that unite these forces are referred to as Super Unified Theories.
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Exploration of the Four Forces
Gravitational pull is a force that draws two bodies towards each other. The force draws life in the universe towards the center of the earth. Gravitational pull is the weakest force when compared to the strong forces with an infinite range. Consequently, a decrease in its proximity weakens its attraction force. The force is reliant on the measures of mass with greater masses such as the earth exhibiting greater gravitational pull (Earthcomm, 2016). The pull is responsible for aligning the planets, the stars, moon, and galaxies in their respective orbits (Earthcomm, 2016). Gravitational force is, thus, responsible for the shape of the universe.
Electromagnetic force, on the other hand, manifests itself as an exchange of two forces: electrical charges and magnetic forces; and are summarized in the Lorentz law. Electromagnetic forces are the second strongest forces in the line of fundamental forces because they have a strength of 1/137 as compared to strong nuclear forces. These forces, however, differ in that electromagnetic forces have an infinite range which obeys the inverse square law making it of the same form as gravity. As mentioned earlier, electromagnetic forces are charged electrically hence its name: the forces act between matter with electrical charges. The fact that electromagnetic forces are made of both electrical charges and magnetic forces gives them both attractive and repulsive characteristics.
The strong nuclear force is the strongest of all the four fundamental forces, although it is limited to short distances. The force keeps protons together to create atoms with strong covalent bonds thus creating strong atoms. Strong force occurs in the presence of nuclear fission and fusion (BCCampus, 2012). The process of nuclear fusion takes place in the core of all stars inclusive of the sun. The energy given off from the fusion process is strong enough to overcome the repulsion of two similar particles that coexist as in the nucleus of the atoms. This force is alleged to have originated from the electromagnetic forces although unlike electromagnetic forces, they serve to function over short distances.
Finally, weak nuclear forces revolve around the exchange of intermediate vector bosons, that is, W and Z. The weak nuclear forces are relatively weak as compared to the strong nuclear forces as the name suggests. The force has a very short range of 10^-18 m which is 0.1% of the diameter of a proton. These weak nuclear forces are responsible for the radioactive decay of the Beta nuclear (Fundamental Forces, 2019). The discovery of the W and Z in 1983 confirmed the interconnection between the weak forces and the electromagnetic forces which were mostly termed as electroweak unification.
In conclusion, an exploration of cosmology in an attempt to understand the origin of the fundamental forces, along with a consideration of each of them in-depth, reveals that although unique, each explains how matter interacts in the universe. Gravitational pull, for instance, draws two bodies towards each other. Electromagnetic force, on the other hand, acts between matter with electric charge. The strong nuclear force keeps protons together while weak nuclear force enables neutrino interactions. Furthermore, the forces are united by the Super Unified Theories and Grand Unification Theories in spite of differences in strength among others.
References
BCCampus. (2012, January 23). Extended Topic: The Four Basic Forces—An Introduction – College Physics. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/physicstestbook2/chapter/extended-topic-the-four-basic-forces-an-introduction/
Earthcomm. (2016). The Four Fundamental Forces. Retrieved from http://tmpsantafe.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/EarthComm_c4_ext.pdf
Fundamental Forces. (2019). Retrieved from http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Forces/funfor.html
