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