The weak force — eraser and clock

Coupling constant G_F ≈ 1.166 × 10⁻⁵ GeV⁻².

Mediates flavour-changing processes — β-decay, neutrino interactions. Converts neutrons to protons and vice versa. Enables nucleosynthesis.

Record-strength at the chemical scale: Σ = 0. Erasure-strength: Ε < 0.

Radioactive decay destroys nuclear configurations. It converts one element into another, changing the substrate on which the electron writes.

A carbon-14 atom in your body that decays to nitrogen-14 does not preserve the molecular structure that contained it. The bond network must reorganise around the new nucleus.

The weak force contributes to one form of record — the isotopic ratio across an ensemble. Radiometric dating.

But that record is written by the statistical pattern of decay, not by any individual weak interaction. And the record itself is read by electromagnetic means — mass spectrometry, fluorescence.