was a
Japanese theoretical physicist
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experi ...
known for his work on
CP-violation who was awarded one quarter of the 2008
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...
"for the discovery of the origin of the
broken symmetry
In physics, symmetry breaking is a phenomenon where a disordered but symmetric state collapses into an ordered, but less symmetric state. This collapse is often one of many possible bifurcations that a particle can take as it approaches a lo ...
which predicts the existence of at least three families of
quark
A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei ...
s in nature."
[
]
Early life and education
Maskawa was born in
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...
, Japan. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
ended, the Maskawa family operated as a sugar wholesaler. A native of
Aichi Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...
, Toshihide Maskawa graduated from
Nagoya University
, abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya.
It was established in 1939 as the last of the nine Imperial Universities in the then Empire of Japan, and is now a Designated National Universit ...
in 1962 and received a
Ph.D. degree in particle physics from the same university in 1967. His doctoral advisor was the physicist
Shoichi Sakata.
[
][
][
]
From early life Maskawa liked
trivia
Trivia is information and data that are considered to be of little value.
Modern usage of the term ''trivia'' dates to the 1960s, when college students introduced question-and-answer contests to their universities. A board game, ''Trivial Purs ...
, also studied
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
,
chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
,
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
and various books. In high school, he loved
novel
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
s, especially detective and mystery stories and novels by
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
Career
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 ...
in the early 1970s, he collaborated with
Makoto Kobayashi on explaining broken symmetry (the
CP violation) within the
Standard Model
The Standard Model of particle physics is the Scientific theory, theory describing three of the four known fundamental forces (electromagnetism, electromagnetic, weak interaction, weak and strong interactions – excluding gravity) in the unive ...
of particle physics. Maskawa and Kobayashi's theory required that there be at least
three generations of quarks, a prediction that was confirmed experimentally four years later by the discovery of the
bottom quark
The bottom quark, beauty quark, or b quark, is an elementary particle of the third generation. It is a heavy quark with a charge of − ''e''.
All quarks are described in a similar way by electroweak interaction and quantum chromodynamic ...
.
Maskawa and Kobayashi's 1973 article, "CP Violation in the Renormalizable Theory of Weak Interaction", is the fourth most cited high energy physics paper of all time as of 2010. The
Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix
In the Standard Model of particle physics, the Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix, CKM matrix, quark mixing matrix, or KM matrix is a unitary matrix that contains information on the strength of the flavour-changing weak interaction. Technical ...
, which defines the
mixing parameters between
quark
A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei ...
s was the result of this work. Kobayashi and Maskawa were jointly awarded half of the 2008
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...
for this work, with the other half going to
Yoichiro Nambu
was a Japanese-American physicist and professor at the University of Chicago.
Known for his groundbreaking contributions to theoretical physics, Nambu was the originator of the theory of spontaneous symmetry breaking, a concept that revoluti ...
.
Maskawa was director of the
Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics from 1997 to 2003. He was special professor and director general of Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe at
Nagoya University
, abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya.
It was established in 1939 as the last of the nine Imperial Universities in the then Empire of Japan, and is now a Designated National Universit ...
, director of Maskawa Institute for Science and Culture at
Kyoto Sangyo University and professor emeritus 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 ...
.
Nobel lecture
On 8 December 2008, after Maskawa told the audience "Sorry, I cannot speak English", he delivered his Nobel lecture on “What Did CP Violation Tell Us?” in Japanese language, at
Stockholm University
Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...
. The audience followed the subtitles on the screen behind him.
Personal life
Maskawa married Akiko Takahashi in 1967. The couple have two children, Kazuki and Tokifuji.
Death
On 23 July 2021 at the same day as the
opening ceremony
An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event. of
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
Summer Olympic Games
The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...
, Maskawa died of
oral cancer
Oral cancer, also known as oral cavity cancer, tongue cancer or mouth cancer, is a cancer of the lining of the lips, mouth, or upper throat. In the mouth, it most commonly starts as a painless red or white patch, that thickens, gets ulcerated ...
at his home in
Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
at the age of 81. Although his death was unrelated to triple disaster and COVID-19 infection. He was
cremated
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...
in October 2021 after the private funeral.
Professional record
*July 1967 – Research Associate of the Faculty of Science,
Nagoya University
, abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya.
It was established in 1939 as the last of the nine Imperial Universities in the then Empire of Japan, and is now a Designated National Universit ...
*May 1970 – Research Associate of the Faculty of Science,
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 ...
*April 1976 – Associate Professor of the Institute for Nuclear Study,
University of Tokyo
The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...
*April 1980 – Professor of the Research Institute for Fundamental Physics (present
Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics),
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 ...
*November 1990 – Professor of the Faculty of Science,
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 ...
* 1995 – Councilor,
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 ...
* 1997
** January – Professor of Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics,
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 ...
** April – Director of Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics,
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 ...
* 2003
** April – Professor Emeritus of
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 ...
** April – Professor of
Kyoto Sangyo University (till May 2009)
* October 2004 – Director of the Research Institute,
Kyoto Sangyo University
* October 2007 – Distinguished Invited University Professor of
Nagoya University
, abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya.
It was established in 1939 as the last of the nine Imperial Universities in the then Empire of Japan, and is now a Designated National Universit ...
* 2009
** February – Trustee of
Kyoto Sangyo University
** March – University Professor of
Nagoya University
, abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya.
It was established in 1939 as the last of the nine Imperial Universities in the then Empire of Japan, and is now a Designated National Universit ...
** June – Head of Maskawa Juku and Professor,
Kyoto Sangyo University (till March 2019)
* 2010
** April – Director of the Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe (KMI) at
Nagoya University
, abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya.
It was established in 1939 as the last of the nine Imperial Universities in the then Empire of Japan, and is now a Designated National Universit ...
** December – Member of the
Japan Academy
The Japan Academy ( Japanese: 日本学士院, ''Nihon Gakushiin'') is an honorary organisation and science academy founded in 1879 to bring together leading Japanese scholars with distinguished records of scientific achievements. The Academy is ...
* 2018
** April – Director Emeritus of KMI at
Nagoya University
, abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya.
It was established in 1939 as the last of the nine Imperial Universities in the then Empire of Japan, and is now a Designated National Universit ...
* April 2019 – Professor Emeritus of
Kyoto Sangyo University
Recognition
*1979 –
Nishina Memorial Prize
*1985 –
Sakurai Prize
The J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics, also commonly referred to as just the Sakurai Prize, is a prize awarded by the American Physical Society. It is presented annually at the Society's April meeting and honors "outstanding a ...
*1985 –
Japan Academy Prize
*1995 –
Chunichi Culture Award
*1995 –
Asahi Prize
The , established in 1929, is an award presented by the Japanese newspaper ''Asahi Shimbun'' and Asahi Shimbun Foundation to honor individuals and groups that have made outstanding accomplishments in the fields of arts and academics and have greatl ...
*2007 – High Energy and Particle Physics Prize by
European Physical Society
*2008 –
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...
*2008 –
Order of Culture
The is a Japanese Order (decoration), order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japanese Art, Japan's art, Japanese Literature, literature, science, technolog ...
*2010 – Member of
Japan Academy
The Japan Academy ( Japanese: 日本学士院, ''Nihon Gakushiin'') is an honorary organisation and science academy founded in 1879 to bring together leading Japanese scholars with distinguished records of scientific achievements. The Academy is ...
Political proposition
In 2013, Maskawa and chemistry Nobel laureate
Hideki Shirakawa
is a Japanese chemist, engineer, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Tsukuba and Zhejiang University. He is best known for his discovery of conductive polymers. He was co-recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with Alan ...
issued a statement against the Japanese
State Secrecy Law The State Secrecy Law, officially the , Act No. 108 of 2013, is a law in Japan allowing the government to designate defense and other sensitive information as "special secrets" that are protected from public disclosure.
History
Prior to the passag ...
." The following is Maskawa's main political proposition:
*Support for
Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution
*Criticizing Japanese politician visits to the
Yasukuni Shrine
is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Empire of Japan, Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, First Sino-Japane ...
[益川敏英博士「日本の平和憲法は改悪の危機」]
. 朝鮮日報/朝鮮日報日本語版 (2013/07/14 01:31)。
*Support for selective couple surname system
See also
* ''
Progress of Theoretical Physics''
*
List of Japanese Nobel laureates
*
List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Kyoto University
References
External links
Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe (KMI), Nagoya University*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maskawa, Toshihide
1940 births
2021 deaths
Scientists from Nagoya
Japanese Nobel laureates
Japanese physicists
Nobel laureates in Physics
Recipients of the Order of Culture
Japanese theoretical physicists
J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics recipients
Particle physicists
Nagoya University alumni
Academic staff of Nagoya University
Academic staff of the University of Tokyo