Page 64 - The Creation Of The Universe
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62                  THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE


                 What, on the other hand, if the strong nuclear force were stronger? To
              answer that, we first have to look at the process of converting two hydro-
              gen atoms into a deuteron in a little more detail. First, one of the protons
              is stripped of its electrical charge and becomes a neutron. This neutron
              forms a deuteron by uniting with a proton. The force causing this unifica-
              tion is the "strong nuclear force"; the force that converts a proton into a
              neutron on the other hand is a different one and is called the "weak nu-
              clear force". It is weak only by comparison however and it takes about ten
              minutes to make the conversion. At the atomic level, this is an immensely
              long time and it has the effect of slowing down the rate at which the reac-
              tion in the Sun takes place.
                 Let us now return to our question: What would happen if the strong nu-
              clear force were stronger? The answer is that the reaction in the Sun would
              be changed dramatically because the weak nuclear force would be elimi-
              nated from the reaction.
                 If the strong nuclear force were any stronger than it is, it would be able
              to fuse two protons to one another immediately and without having to wait
              ten minutes for a proton to be converted into a neutron. As a result of this
              reaction, there would be one nucleus with two protons instead of a
              deuteron. Scientists call such a nucleus a "di-proton". It is a theoretical par-
              ticle however insofar as it has never been observed to occur naturally. But
              if the strong nuclear force were much stronger than it is, then there would
              be real di-protons in the Sun. So what? Well by getting rid of the proton-
              to-neutron conversion, we would be eliminating the "throttle" that keeps
              the Sun's "engine" running as slowly as it does. George Greenstein explains
              what the result of that would be:
                 The Sun would change because the first stage in the formation of heli-
                 um would no longer be the formation of the deuteron. It would be the
                 formation of the di-proton. And this reaction would not involve the
                 transformation of a proton into a neutron at all. The role of the weak
                 force would be eliminated, and only the strong force would be in-
                 volved…and as a result the Sun's fuel would suddenly become very
                 good indeed. It would become so powerful, so ferociously reactive, that
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