Question

Do the four fundamental laws of nature ever interact with each other?

Answer 1

The four fundamental forces don't interact directly with each other but they do work together.

Explanation:

The four fundamental forces don't interact directly with each other because they work on different things:

• Gravity works on massive objects
• The electromagnetic force works on charged particles
• The residual strong nuclear force binds proton and neutrons together to make atomic nuclei
• The weak nuclear force is responsible for radioactive decay by turning one type of quark into another

The four forces do however often work together. A good example of where all four forces work together is in the core of a star like our Sun.

Gravity was responsible for the formation of the Sun. It is constantly trying to collapse it. This cause the core to be hot enough and at a high enough pressure for fusion reactions to take place.

Gravity is balanced by outward pressure due to fusion reactions which makes the star be in hydrostatic equilibrium.

The electromagnetic force causes protons to repel each other. It is partly responsible from preventing the star from using up all of its fuel too quickly.

When the temperature and pressure bring two protons close enough together, the strong nuclear force is able to overcome the electromagnetic force and bind the two protons into a highly unstable diproton or Helium-2. Most of the diprotons disintegrate back into two protons. Sometimes, the slower acting weak nuclear force is able to turn a proton into a neutron, a positron and an electron neutrino making deuterium Further fusion is then able to take place to make Helium-4.

It is however known that at very high energies, the photon which mediates the electromagnetic force and the Z which mediates the weak force become indistinguishable. This is the electroweak theory. It is thought that the other forces can also be unified. This means that at incredibly high energies the forces are the same. At lower energies they separate out.

So, the four forces often work together but do not interact with each other directly unless at very high energies when they unify.