Charged current

The charged current interaction is one of the ways in which subatomic particles can interact by means of the weak force. It is mediated by the
W+
and
W−
bosons.

The interaction is often incorrectly believed to be called 'charged' because the W bosons have electric charge. However, the charged current that gives the interaction its name is that of the interacting particles. For example, the charged-current contribution to the
ν
e
e−
→
ν
e
e−
elastic scattering amplitude

${\mathfrak {M}}^{{{\mathrm {CC}}}}\propto J_{{\mu }}^{{{\mathrm {(CC)}}}}({\mathrm {e^{{-}}}}\to \nu _{{{\mathrm {e}}}})\;J^{{{\mathrm {(CC)}}\mu }}(\nu _{{{\mathrm {e}}}}\to {\mathrm {e^{{-}}}})$

where the charged currents describing the flow of one fermion into the other are given by

$J^{{{\mathrm {(CC)\mu }}}}(f\to f')={\bar {u}}_{{f'}}\gamma ^{{\mu }}{\frac {1}{2}}\left(1-\gamma ^{{5}}\right)u_{{f}}.$

See also

• Neutral current