Fermi Interaction

Fermi interaction describes how certain nuclear processes, like radioactive decay, occur through the weak nuclear force—the fundamental force responsible for some types of particle interactions. Named after physicist Enrico Fermi, it models how particles such as neutrons and protons interact by exchanging a very short-range, weak contact force, allowing one particle to transform into another (e.g., a neutron into a proton). This interaction explains phenomena like beta decay in radioactive atoms. It is characterized by a constant known as the Fermi coupling constant, quantifying the strength of this process within the nucleus.