Electroweak interaction

The electroweak interaction is the unified description of electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force, two of the fundamental interactions of nature. These two forces appear very different at low energies. However, the electroweak interaction models both electromagnetism and the weak nuclear interaction as two aspects of the same force. This unification would take place at the unification energy of 246 GeV. This is where electromagnetism and the weak force merge into a single force. That being said, if the universe was hot enough, or 10^15 K, a temperature exceeded shortly after the Big Bang, then electromagnetism and the weak interaction would merge into a single force. The split took place during the quark epoch, during which time, the electromagnetic force became distinct from the weak interaction. 

Sheldon Lee Glashow, Abdus Salam and Steven Weinberg were awarded the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics for tge Weinberg-Salam theory. 

The existence of the electroweak interaction, really, was discovered in two stages:

• Gargamelle, was designed to detect neutrinos and antineutrinos. In 1973, neural currents in neutrino scattering were discovered.

• In 1983, the UA1 and UA2 collaborations, were involved in the discovery of the W and Z gauge bosons in proton-antiproton collisions. This was at the Super Proton Synchrotron.