was a Japanese plasma physicist. He is known for his contributions to the theory of turbulent transport in plasmas, and in particular the derivation of the Hasegawa–Mima equation in 1977, which won him the 2011 Hannes Alfvén Prize.

Life and career

Mima studied physics at

Kyoto University , or , is a National university, national research university in Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 1897, it is one of the former Imperial Universities and the second oldest university in Japan. The university has ten undergraduate faculties, eighteen gra ...

and graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in 1968 and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1973. He was a post-doctoral student at Hiroshima University until 1975 and then started work at

Osaka University The , abbreviated as UOsaka or , is a List of national universities in Japan, national research university in Osaka, Japan. The university traces its roots back to Edo period, Edo-era institutions Tekijuku (1838) and Kaitokudō, Kaitokudo (1724), ...

, where he became an assistant professor in 1978 and a professor in 1984. From 1995 to 1999, he was director of the Institute of Laser Engineering. There, his work involved

laser fusion Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a fusion energy process that initiates nuclear fusion reactions by compressing and heating targets filled with fuel. The targets are small pellets, typically containing deuterium (2H) and tritium (3H). Typicall ...

(experiments with the Gekko XII laser and FIREX program), free electron lasers, relativistic plasmas and laser-plasma interaction. Mima died on 5 January 2025, at the age of 79.

Honors and awards

Mima was a Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

and a Member of the

Physical Society of Japan The Physical Society of Japan (JPS; 日本物理学会 in Japanese) is the organisation of physicists in Japan. There are about 16,000 members, including university professors, researchers as well as educators, and engineers. The origins of the JPS ...

and the Japan Society of Plasma Science at Nuclear Fusion Research. He was a co-recipient of the 1993 John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research and won the 2007 Edward Teller Award. He was jointly awarded the 2011 Hannes Alfvén Prize (with

Akira Hasegawa is a Japanese theoretical physicist and engineer who has worked in the U.S. and Japan. He is known for his work in the derivation of the Hasegawa–Mima equation, which describes fundamental plasma turbulence and the consequent generation of z ...

and Patrick H. Diamond) for ''"laying the foundations of modern numerical transport simulations and key contributions on self-generated zonal flows and flow shear decorrelation mechanisms which form the basis of modern

turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between ...

in plasmas".''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mima, Kunioki 1945 births 2025 deaths Plasma physicists Japanese plasma physicists Kyoto University alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society