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W bosons

The W bosons are best known for their role in nuclear decay. Consider, for example, the beta decay of cobalt-60.

This reaction does not involve the whole cobalt-60 nucleus, but affects only one of its 33 neutrons. The neutron is converted into a proton while also emitting an electron (often called a beta particle in this context) and an electron antineutrino:

Again, the neutron is not an elementary particle but a composite of an up quark and two down quarks (u d d). It is one of the down quarks that interacts in beta decay, turning into an up quark to form a proton (u u d). At the most fundamental level, then, the weak force changes the flavour of a single quark:

which is immediately followed by decay of the W itself: