NISHINAMEMORIAL FOUNDATION
2008

Yoshio Nishina（1890 -1951）

Preface
The Nishina Memorial Foundation, which was founded in 1955 to commemorate Dr.
Yoshio Nishina’s great contribution to the development of modern physics in Japan, hasrecently celebrated its 50th anniversary. This booklet is aimed at informing the origin,missions and activities of the Foundation to scientists in the world, as the Foundation
was based on the initial donation of many distinguished scholars in the world and ouractivities have been extended world-wide. I hope this will help to strengthen internatioal friendship and collaboration.

March 2008
Toshimitsu Yamazaki
President of the Foundation

Former presidents of the Foundation

Sin-itiro Tomonaga(1963-1979)

Ryogo Kubo
(1979-1995)

Kazuhiko Nishijima(1995-2005)

Contents

Yoshio Nishina - Father of Modern Physics in Japan ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ 1
Birth of the Nishina Memorial Foundation ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ 2
The Missions of the Foundation･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ 5

Highlight of Nishina’s laboratory - original scientific papers ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ 7
Discovery of the muon
Discovery of U-237 and of symmetric fission
Recent historical accountAppendix
1 Recipients of Nishina Memorial Prizes ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ 23
2 Nishina Memorial Lectures ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ 31
3 Nishina Fellowship for Young Foreign Researchers ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ ･ 35

Yoshio Nishina - Father of Modern Physics in Japan
Yoshio Nishina, referred to in Japan as the Father of Modern Physics, is well known
for his theoretical work on the Klein–Nishina formula, which was done with Oskar
Klein in the 6 years he spent in Copenhagen under Niels Bohr during the great era of
the development of quantum physics. Nishina returned to Tokyo in 1929, and started tobuild up experimental and theoretical groups at RIKEN. His achievements there weremany and great:(1) encouraging Hideki Yukawa and Sin-itiro Tomonaga to tackle a new frontier ofphysics, leading eventually to their making breakthroughs in fundamental theoreticalphysics that won them Nobel prizes;(2) the discovery of “mesotrons” (the name for Yukawa particles at that time, now
called muons) in 1937, which was published in Phys. Rev., parallel to the well known
two American groups (Neddremyer-Anderson and Street-Stevenson);(3) construction of small and large cyclotrons and subsequent discoveries of animportant radioisotope 237U and of symmetric fission phenomena by fast neutron irradiation of uranium (1939 - 40), published in Phys. Rev. and Nature;(4) creation of a new style of research institute, open to external reseachers, an idea
inherited from Copenhagen.
During World-War-II his laboratory was severely damaged, and also his cyclotrons
were destroyed and thrown into Tokyo Bay right after the end of the war. Nishina
devoted all his strength to re-establishing his scientic activities from scratch, butpassed away in 1951 with many unfinished attempts left behind. We can say that what
Japan is now owes a great deal to Nishina’s major contributions to science and the scientic community.

-1-Birth of the Nishina Memorial Foundation in 1955
Shortly after his death, in 1955, the Nishina Memorial Foundation was established
to commemorate the great contributions of Yoshio Nishina and to stimulate scientificdevelopment in the field of modern quantum physics. This was made possible by all theefforts of his successors, collaborators, friends, and influential people even outside science, who respected and loved Yoshio Nishina. These included Nishina’s best friend,
Ernest O. Lawrence, a Nobel Laureate in 1939, who wrote the following to Sin-itiro
Tomonaga as early as 1952:
Dear Dr. Tomonaga,
I am glad to hear that you are establishing a research fund in memory of Dr.
Nishina. He was truly a great man of science for not only did he himself makefundamental contributions to knowledge, but also he was an inspiring and generous leader whose beneficent influence was felt the world over. Therefore, theestablishment of a fund for scientific research would constitute a particularly fitting memorial and I would count it a privilege and an honor to be associated withthis worthy undertaking,Cordially yours,
Ernest O. Lawrence

It is to be noted that a substantial amount of the initial funding was donated by 44
distinguished scientists from foreign countries, including 15 Nobel laureates *:Edoardo Amaldi (Centro di Studio per la Fisica Nucleare, Rome), Philip W.
Anderson * (University of Tokyo), John Bardeen * (University of Illinois), C. Bloch(Paris), Nocolas Blömbergen * (Harvard University), J. de Boer (Universiteit van
Amsterdam), Niels Bohr * (Copenhagen University), F. Bopp (Institut der Theoretische
Physik, Universität Munchen), R.M. Bozorth (Bell Telephone Laboratories), Arthur H.
Compton * (Washington University), P. Fleury (Paris), Paul J. Flory * (Cornell
University), Frederick C. Frank (University of Bristol), Herbert Fröhlich (The
University, Liverpool), Herbert Paul Huber (University of Basle, Basle), Harry C. Kelly(National Science Foundation), J.G. Kirkwood (Yale University), M. Levy (Ecole
Normale Superieure, Paris), Per-Olov Loewdin (University of Uppsala, Uppsala), R.E.

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Marshak (University of Rochester), H.W. Massey (University College, the University,
London), Maria Göppert Mayer * (Argonne National Laboratory), J.E. Mayer(University of Chicago), Nevill F. Mott * (University of Bristol), Robert S. Mulliken *(University of Chicago). Louis E. F. Neel * (Institut Fourier, Grenoble), Marcus L.
Oliphant (Australian National University, Canberra), Lars Onsager * (Yale
University), Abraham Pais (Princeton University), Rudolph E. Peierls (The University,
Edgebaston), F. Perrin (Laboratoire de Physique Atomique et Moleculaire, Paris), A.
Proca (Institut Henri Poincare, Paris), Isidor I. Rabi * (Columbia University),
Rosenbluth (Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory), Leonard I. Schiff (Stanford University),
F. Seitz (University of Illinois), John C. Slater (Massachusetts Institute of Technology),
Charles H. Townes * (Columbia University), John H. Van Vleck * (Harvard University),
I. Waller (Institute for Mathematical Physics, Uppsala), A. T. Waterman (National
Science Foundation), G. Wentzel (University of Chicago), John A. Wheeler (Princeton
University), and Chen Ning Yang * (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)

The total sum was Yen 947,957. This list bears witness to the admiration felt
throughout the world for Yoshio Nishina and the appreciation of his warm and noble
character.

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Figure 1: Letter of E. O. Lawrence to Sin-itiro Tomonaga in 1952

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The Missions of the Foundation
The missions of the Nishina Memorial Foundation are:(i) To award the Nishina Memorial Prize to promising young scientists. Already 154
scientists have received the prize, as listed in this booklet. Many of them have gone on
to win further prestigious prizes, both national and international, the most notablebeing the two Nobel Prizes awarded to Leo Esaki (1973) and Masatoshi Koshiba (2002).
(ii) To send young scientists to foreign countries.
(iii) To invite distinguished scientists from foreign countries.
(iv) To give young scientists from developing countiries the chance to engage in
research work in Japan.
(v) To explore and record historical events and documents related to Nishina’s life
and work. Recently, a number of correspondences of Nishina in 1930-40’s were found,which are documented and published as a three-volume book, Collected Correspondenceof Yoshio Nishina (in Japanese, ed. R. Nakane, Y. Nishina, K. Nishina, Y. Yazaki and H.
Ezawa, Misuzu Shobo, Tokyo, 2006-2007).
(vi) To deliver Nishina Memorial Lectures. Sin-itiro Tomonaga, the second presidentof the Foundation, promoted a series of public lectures by inviting distinguished scientists from abroad as well as from Japan. During the first 50 years the number of the
NML has exceeded 100 and about 30% of them were delivered by foreign guests. The
lectures documented in English were recently published as Nishina Memorial Lectures- Creators of Modern Physics as a Springer Lecture Notes in Physics 746 (2007). A listof the Lectures is given in the appendix.

-5-Figure 2: Photograph of a historical Wilson chamber track showing a new cosmic-ray particle, publishedin Y. Nishina, Kagaku 7 (1937) 408 (submitted August 15, 1937). Y. Nishina, M. Takeuchi and T. Ichimiya
reported a mass of 1/7 to 1/10 of the proton mass in Phys. Rev. 52 (1937) 1198 (received August 28,
1937).

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Highlight of Nishina’s Laboratory[Discovery of the muon]
Y. Nishina, M. Takeuchi and T. Ichimiya,Phys. Rev. 52 (1937) 1198
“On the Nature of Cosmic-Ray Particles”
Y. Nishina, M. Takeuchi and T. Ichimiya,Phys. Rev. 55 (1939) 585“On the Mass of the Mesotron”[Discovery of a new radioisotope U-237
and of symmetric fission]
Y. Nishina, T. Yasaki, H. Ezoe, K. Kimura and M. Ikawa,Nature 144 (1939) 547“Fission of Thorium by Neutrons
Y. Nishina, T. Yasaki, H. Ezoe, K. Kimura and M. Ikawa,,
Phys. Rev. 57 (1940) 1182L“Induced beta-activity of Uranium by Fast Neutrons”
Y. Nishina, T. Yasaki, H. Ezoe, K. Kimura and M. Ikawa,,
Nature 146 (1940) 24L“Fission Products of Uranium by Fast Neutrons”[Recent historical account]“Interplay between Yukawa and Tomonaga in the birth of mesons”
by T. Yamazaki

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Invited talk at the Yukawa session of the International Nuclear physics Conference, Tokyo, June
2007

Interplay between Yukawa and Tomonaga
in the Birth of Mesons
Toshimitsu Yamazaki
Nishina Memorial Foundation, Honkomagome 2-28-45, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8941, Japan
Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, JapanRIKEN Nishina Center, Wako-shi, Saitama-ken 351-0198, Japan

Abstract
Light is shed on the early stage in the birth of Yukawa’s meson theory, particularly on the interplay between Yukawa and Tomonaga in 1933. The discovery of the muon by Nishina’ group in 1937is also reviewed. It is pointed out that Heisenberg’s attempt to explain the nuclear force in terms of
the Heitler-London scheme, overcome by Yukawa and abandoned since then, is now being revived as–a mechanism for a super strong nuclear force caused by a migrating real K meson.
1. Introduction
It is a great honor and pleasure to have an opportunity to give a talk in this Yukawa Centennial
Session. Here, I concentrate on the early stage of the birth of the Yukawa meson.

As explained in

the previous talk by Professor Sato, Yukawa and Tomonaga were physics classmates at Kyoto
University. Very recently, private communications between them in 1933, the eve of the birth of
Yukawa’s theory, were found [1]. These tell us about a very interesting and intriguing interplay andinteraction between these two great physisists, then only students. It is the purpose of my talk to convey my own excitement and impressions from their premature years.
2. The Year 1933 of Advent
Right after the discovery of the neutron by Chadwick in 1932, Heisenberg published his famouswork on the nuclear force and nuclear binding phenomena in 1932 [2]. This work affected young
Yukawa and Tomonaga greatly. These two freshmen, then only 26 years old, challenged the forefront
problems of nuclear physics, and attended the spring meeting of the Japan Physico-MathematicalSociety, held in Sendai in 1933.
At that time Heisenberg was stuck to the idea of molecular binding applied to the nuclear force interms of “Platzwechsel” a la Heitler and London [3], who explained for the first time the H-H bonding in the hydrogen molecule quantum mechanically in 1927. The Heitler-London-Heisenberg mechanism can be expressed by a diagram, as shown in Fig. 1 (Left). An electron migrates between thetwo protons, and a strong bonding force emerges as a quantum mechanical effect. Heisenberg’s
attempt was to combine the proton and the neutron in a similar fashon.

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Fig. 1. (Left) Heitler-London-Heisenberg scheme for the nuclear force. Diagram drawn by K. Nishijima.
(Right) Yukawa’s meson exchange interaction for the nuclear force.
Yukawa took up this problem seriously, and presented his struggling with this problem at thisSendai meeting. The title of his talk was “a consideration of the problem of nuclear electrons”. At
this meeting Yoshio Nishina, who is called Father of modern physics in Japan, stimulated Yukawa
and Tomonaga toward the then developing quantum physics, suggested that Yukawa should consider a boson instead of a fermion to avoid one of the difficulties. The term “Bose electron” was used atthat time. It took some time until Yukawa reached his revolutional idea of a mediating virtual
meson in the fall of 1934.
At the same meeting Tomonaga presented his work on the deuteron binding energy and the proton-neutron reaction. At that time Tomonaga was a resident physicist in Nishina’s laboratory at
RIKEN, and was working on a theoretical explanation of the newly obtained experimental data on
the interaction between a proton and a neutron, employing various interaction forms. It is striking
that he chose the following form for a short-range interaction:J（r）＝ Aexp（−λr）.
r（1）

This was nothing but what would be later called the Yukawa interaction.
Here, a great interplay emerged. After this meeting Tomonaga wrote a rather long letter toYukawa [4], in which he explained his results in more detail. Figure 2 is a copy of his letter, in which
he showed the above interaction form, and told Yukawa about the value of the range parameter λ,he obtained from fitting the experimental values with this interaction form,
λ＝7×1012 /cm.

（2）

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Fig. 2. (Left) Tomonaga’s hand-drawn plot of the p-n reaction data with his theoretical fitting using the“Yukawa interaction.” (Right) Yukawa’s note on the back of Tomonaga’s letter. From Ref. [4].
It is extremely interesting that Yukawa jotted some notes on the back of this letter (see Fig. 2,
right panel), such as

λComton ＝

10-1mc〜 3 ×10 cm .
h（3）

It is very interesting to speculate about what Yukawa was thinking when he made this hand-written
estimate of the electron Compton wavelength. If we divide Tomonaga’s value by this value, we would
obtain the value 230 !!
We can thus imagine that this letter must have had a profound influence on Yukawa, who was in
the midst of struggling with the problem of the nuclear force in 1933, but had not yet formulated theidea of the Yukawa interaction, in which the range parameter is related to the mass of the mediating
particle.
Tomonaga’s work on the range of the p-n interaction was later mentioned in a footnote of
Yukawa’s first paper [5] as
These calculations were made previously, according to the theory of Heisenberg, by Mr. Tomonaga,
to whom the writer owes much....
On the other hand, Tomonaga published this work only in 1936 [6], 3 years after his letter toYukawa. A similar work on the proton-neutron binding by Bethe and Peierls [7] appeared in the literature in 1935.

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3. Yukawa Overcame Heisenberg
At that time, in the spring of 1933, neither Yukawa nor Tomonaga seemed to recognize the deep
meaning of the interaction formula (1) and, in particular, the implication of the range parameter, λ,which Tomonaga deduced from experimental data. Heisenberg tried to explain the nuclear force interms of the Heitler-London scheme, but was not successful. Yukawa as of 1933 also struggled withthis problem. Many difficult problems existed: how can a migrating real particle exist in nuclei? Is it
a Bose electron? How can the interaction be short-ranged? How can proton + electron be a neutron?
Finally, in the fall of 1934 Yukawa arrived at the concept of a “virtual mediating particle” behindthe strong nuclear force. Its diagram is shown in Fig. 1 (Right).
The famous equation1［ − c2

∂2
U＝0,
−λ2］
∂t2

（4）

given in the first Yukawa paper, published in 1935 [5], represents a force field U with a parameterλ, Here, Yukawa took the form (1) for the short-range interaction of the nuclear force. Yukawa’s
great discovery was to relate this parameter, which expresses the inverse of the force range, to themass of a mediating particle, U:

λ＝

mc
.
h

（5）

The mass of U was expected to be 200-times larger than the electron mass. Eventually, the Yukawa
mesons were discovered. Thus, the Yukawa theory became the fundamental concept in modern
physics since 1935.
In contrast, the old idea of Heisenberg based on the Heitler-London scheme was completely abandoned and forgotten in nuclear physics, but we will revisit this problem
later.

4. Discovery of the “Mesotron”
Another story I would like to convey is that of the discovery of muons. Nishina constructed alarge cloud chamber with a very strong and homogeneous magnetic field to measure cosmic rays.
Around 1936-37, there were four experimental groups in the world with the primary purpose of
examining the validity of the Bethe-Heitler formula, which had just been derived. Neddermeyer andAnderson [8] were the first to report that there are some particles that do not obey this theory. Such
particles were believed to be neither the proton nor the electron (positron), presumably having a
mass between that of the proton and the electron. In the same year, similar findings were reported
by other groups [9-11]. Among them, two groups succeeded in determining the mass of such intermediate particles. A paper of Nishina, Takeuchi and Ichimiya [10], reporting a value of mX/me = 180±
20, the most precise value at that time, was received by Physical Review on August 28, 1937, and- 20 -

was published on December 1. Interestingly, a paper of Steet and Stevenson [11], reporting mX/me =130±30, was received on October 6, 1937, more than one month later than Nishina’s paper, but was
published on November 1, one month earlier. This situation resulted from the fact that shipping of
the galley proof back and forth between New York and Tokyo took nearly 40 days. Figure 3 shows acloud-chamber picture of Nishina’ group, which was printed in a Japanese science journal, “Kagaku”,
in September 1937.

Fig. 3. Photograph of the cloud chamber track of a cosmic ray event taken by Nishina, Takeuchi and
Ichimiya of RIKEN. From Nishina in “Kagaku” [12].

Thus, it is fair to say that the two experiments [10,11] were nearly of the same quality and significance. Nevertheless, the experiment of Nishina’s group has hardly been recognized in the world. It
is a pity that even Japanese physicists are not aware of this great achievement.

5. Heitler-London-Heisenberg scheme revisited
My historical talk may end at this point, but I would like to show two more slides to explain thatthe Heitler-London-Heisenberg scheme may have profound meaning, 80 years after the HeitlerLondon paper. Very recently Akaishi and myself predicted the presence of a new nuclear cluster, K
pp based on the empirically deduced K N interaction. In studying its structure from an uncon-- 21 -

strained three-body calculation, we found a dynamically organized molecular structure with K p as
an atomic constituent [13, 14]. A distinct difference is seen in the depth of the attractive potential
and the range of the potential. The volume ratio amounts to about 4. This super strong nuclear force,thus introduced, might be the cause for a cold dense nuclear system and kaon condensation. Thus,
we have shown that the HLH scheme is revived in a new form of the nuclear force, and its experimental verification in the future would be extremely interesting.

References[1] “Collected Correspondence of Yoshio Nishina, Vol. I, II (2006), Vol III (2007)” (in Japanese, ed. R.
Nakane, Y. Nishina, K. Nishina, Y. Yazaki and H. Ezawa, Misuzu Shobo, Tokyo)[2] W. Heisenberg, Z. Phys. 77 (1932) 1, 78 (1932) 156, 80 (1933) 587.
[3] W. Heitler and F. London, Z. Phys. 44 (1927) 455.
[4] S. Tomonaga, private letter to H. Yukawa, from the Yukawa Archive (YIFP); documented in Vol. I
of [1].
[5] H. Yukawa, Proc. Phys. Math. Soc. Jap. 17 (1935) 48.
[6] Y. Nishina, S. Tomonaga and H. Tamaki, Sci. Papers of the Inst. Phys. Chem. Res. 30 (1936) 6169.
[7] H.A. Bethe and R. Peierls, Proc. Roy. Soc. 149 (1935) 176-183.
[8] H. Neddermeyer and C. Anderson, Phys. Rev. 51 (1937), 884.
[9] M.M. Jean Crussard and L. Leprince-Ringuet, Compt. Rend. 204 (1937), 240.
[10] Y. Nishina, M. Takeuchi and T. Ichimiya, Phys. Rev. 52 (1937), 1198.
[11] J.C. Street and E.C. Stevenson, Phys. Rev. 52 (1937), 1003.
[12] Y. Nishina, “Kagaku” 7 (1937) 408 (in Japanese).
[13] T. Yamazaki and Y. Akaishi, Proc. Jpn Acad. Ser. B 83 (2007) 144.
[14] T. Yamazaki and Y. Akaishi, Phys. Rev. C 76 (2007) 045201.

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Recipients of Nishina Memorial Prizes
Year

Name

Affiliation

Faculty of Science, Osaka University
Kazuhiko NISHIJIMA Faculty of Science, Osaka City
University
1956 Kei YOSHIDA
Faculty of Science, Osaka University
1955 Koreichi OGATA

Shingo MITSUI
Susumu NISHIGAKI
Tomoji EGAWA
Tsunezo USHIODA
1957 Ryogo KUBO
1958 Kenzo SUGIMOTO

Faculty of Agriculture, University of
Tokyo
National Inatitute for Agrotechnology
National Institute for Agrotechnology
Sericulture Experimental Station
Faculty of Science, University ofTokyo
Faculty of Science, Osaka University

Tokyo University of Education
Sony Co., Ltd
Ryohei NAKANE
The Institute of Physical andChemical Research
1960 Akio YOSHIMORI
Faculty of Science, Osaka City
University
1961 Kiyoshi NIU
Institute for Nuclear Study,
University of Tokyo
Shuji FUKUIFaculty of Science, Nagoya
University,
Sigenori MIYAMOTO Faculty of Science, Osaka City
University
Takeo MATSUBARA
Faculty of Science, Kyoto University
Katsuro SAWADA

1959 Leo ESAKI

1962 Kazuo TAKAYAMA
Wataru SASAKI
1963 Chushiro HAYASHI
1964 Giiti IWATA
Masao SEYA
1965 Kenji MITANI
Shigetoshi TANAKA
Saburo MIYAKE

Institute of Plasma Physics, Nagoya
University
Electrotechnical Laboratory, Agency
of Industrial Science and Technology
Faculty if Science, Kyoto University
Faculty of Science, University of
Tokyo
Optical Science Laboratory, Tokyo
University of Education
College of General Education, Kyoto
University
Institute of Plasma Physics, Nagoya
University
Faculty of Science, Osaka City
University- 23 -

Subject

Completion of a large mass spectrometerTransformation of elementary particles
Magnetic anisotropic energy in antiferromagnetism
Study of botanical fertilization by means ofisotopes

Statistical mechanics of irreversible processes
Measurements of magnetic dipole and electric
quadrupole moments of nuclear excited states
Study of the correlation energy of electron gas
Invention of the Esaki diode
Isotope concentration by chemical exchange
reactions
Theory of helical spin ordering in magnetic
crystalsFireball model for multiple meson production
Study and development of the discharge chamber

A new method in quantum statisticalmechanics
Study of low-density plasma - invention of
the resonant probe method
Study of the hot electron anisotropy in germanium
Study of the stellar nuclear evolution
Study of dynamics of electrons and ions instatic electric and magnetic fields
Vacuum ultraviolet spectrometer
Study on the negative absorption of weakly
ionized plasma at the cyclotron frequency

Study of cosmic-ray muons and neutrinos

Year

Name

Affiliation

Institute for Astronautical Research,
University of Tokyo
Yutaka TOYOZAWA
Institute for Solid State Physics,
University of Tokyo
1967 Shuzo OGAWA
Faculty of Science, Hiroshima
University
Yoshio YAMAGUCHI Institute for Nuclear Study,
University of Tokyo
Jun NISHIMURA
Institute of Space and Astronautical
Science, University of Tokyo
1968 Hazime MORI
Faculty of Science, Kyushu
University
Jun KONDOElectrotechnical Laboratory, Agency
of Industrial Science and Technology
1969 Hisashi MATSUDA
College of General Education, Osaka
University
Hiroyuki IKEZIInstitute of Plasma Physics, Nagoya
University
Kyoji NISHIKAWA
Faculty of Science, Kyoto University
1970 Kunihiko KIGOSHI
Faculty of Science, Gakushuin
University
Tetsuji NISHIKAWA Faculty of Science, University ofTokyo
1971 Hirotaka SUGAWARA Institute for Nuclear Study,
University of Tokyo
Haruhiko MORINADepartment of Physics, TechnicalGA
University of Munich
1972 Kyozi KAWASAKI
Department of Physics, Temple
University
Kazumi MAKI
Faculty of Science, Tohoku
University
1973 Noboru NAKANISHI Research Institute for Mathematical
Sciences, Kyoto University
Humitaka SATO
Institute for Fundamental Physics,
Kyoto University
1966 Minoru ODA

Akira TOMIMATSU
1974 Eizo OTSUKA
Bunji SAKITA
1975 Toshimitsu YAMAZAKI
Eiichi HANAMURA

Institute for Theoretical Physics,
Hiroshima University
College of General Education, Osaka
University
City College of New York
Faculty of Science, University ofTokyo
Institute for Solid State Physics,
University of Tokyo- 24 -

Subject

Determination of the location of SCO-X-1
Dynamical theory of optical properties insolidStudy of the symmetry of fundamental particles

Study of the transverse momentum in ultrahigh energy reactions
Statistical mechanics of non-equilibrium
statesClarification of the resistance minimum in
dilute alloys
Development of a large-dispersion mass separator for precise atomic mass measurements
Study of the ion-wave echo

Study of the Carbon-14 dating
Basic study of linear accelerators
Application of the symmetry in fundamental
particles
Invention of in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy and study of nuclear structure
Dynamical theory of critical phenomena
Theoretical study of supercondoctors
Analyses of characteristics of the scattering
amplitude in the quantum field theory
Discovery of a new solution of the gravitaional field equation and its application to cosmological physics

Study of the electron transport in semiconductors by means of the cyclotron resonanceSupermultiplet and duality theories of elementary particles
Discovery of the mesonic effect in nuclear
magnetic moments
Theoretical study of many-exciton systems

Year

Name

1976 Akira ISOYA
Susumu OKUBO
Jugoro IIZUKA
1977 Shigeo SHIONOYA

Ziro MAKI
Yasuo HARA
1978 Eizi HIROTA

Affiliation

Faculty of Science, Kyushu
University
Faculty of Science, Rochester
University
Faculty of Science, Nagoya
University
Institute for Solid State Physics,
University of Tokyo
Institute for Fundamental Physics,
Kyoto University
Institute of Physics, Tsukuba
University
Institute for Molecular Science

Faculty of Science, University ofTokyo
Toshio MARUMORI
Institute for Nuclear Study,
University of Tokyo
1979 Toru MORIYA
Institute for Solid State Physics,
University of Tokyo
Makoto KOBAYASHI National Laboratory of High Energy
Physics (KEK)Toshihide MASKAWA Institute for Nuclear Study,
University of Tokyo
1980 Muneyuki DATE
Faculty of Science, Osaka University
Yoshiharu TORIZUKA Laboratory of Nuclear Science,
Tohoku University
Taichiro KUGO
Faculty of Science, Kyoto University
Akito ARIMA

Institute for Advanced Study,
Princeton
1981 Daiichiro SUGIMOColledge of General Education,
TO
University of Tokyo
Motohiko YOSHIMU- National Laboratory of High Energy
RAPhysics (KEK)1982 Tsuneya ANDO
Institute of Applied Physics,
Tsukuba University
Akira TONOMURA
Central Resarch Laboratory, Hitachi
Co. Ltd
1983 Taiji YAMANOUCHI Fermi National Accelerator
Laboratory
Akimasa MASUDA
Faculty of Science, University ofTokyo

Subject

Study of the high-voltage electrostatic accelerator and its development
Discovery of a new selection rule in the strong
interaction of elementary particles

Study of the high-density excitation effect insemiconductors by means of the picosecond
spectroscopy
The SU(4) model of elementary particles

Study of free radicals by means of high-resolution, high-sensitivity spectrosopy
Theoreical study of the collective motion of
nuclei

Theory of itinerant electron ferromagnetism
A new model for elementary particles

Generation of ultra-high magnetic field
Study of the giant resonances of nuclei
Theory of the convariant quantization of the
non-Abelian gauge field theory

Izumi OJIMA- 25 -

Evolution of nearby dual star system
The origin of the baryon number in the universe
Theoretical study of the two-dimensional
electron system in the MOS inversion layer
Development of the electron holography andits application
Contribution to the discovery of the Upsilon
particles
Precise microscopic measurements of rareearth elements and its application to spaceand earth science

Year

Name

Affiliation

Subject

1984 Tohru EGUCHIThe lattice gauge theory

1985 Toyoichi TANAKA

Study of the metal ferromagnetism by meansof neutron scattering
Experimental studies of the negative magnetoresistance and quantum Hall effect in thetwo-dimensional electron system
Study of phase transitions of gel

Faculty of Science, University ofTokyo
Hikaru KAWAI
Physics Department, Cornell
University
Yoshikazu ISHIKAWA Faculty of Science, Tohoku
University
Shinji KAWAJI
Faculty of Science, Gakushuin
University

Sumio IIJIMA
Yasuo TANAKA
1986 Masuo SUZUKI
Kazuo FUJIKAWA
Tetsuya SATO
1987 Kunio TAKAYANAGI
Masaki MORIMOTO

Masachusetts Institute ofTechnology
Research Development Cooperationof Japan
Institute for Space and Astronautical
ScienceFaculty of Science, University ofTokyo
Institute for Theoretical Phyiscs,
Hiroshima University
Center for Nuclear Fusion Theory,
Hiroshima University
Department of Physics, Tokyo
Institute of Technology
Tokyo Astronomical Observatory,
University of Tokyo

Dynamical observation of few-atom ensembles
Study of neutron stars using the satellite
Temma
Statistical physics of phase transition orderingand quantum many-body systems
Study of the anomaly in quantum field theory
Nonlinear dynamics of dissipative magnetohydrodynamic plasma
Study of the surface structure of silicon
Development of millimeterwave astronomy

Norio KAIFU
Masatoshi KOSHIBA

Faculty of Science, Tokai University

Yoji TOTSUKAICEPP, University of Tokyo
Institute of Cosmic Ray Research,
University of Tokyo
Faculty of Science, Nagoya
University
Faculty of Science, Osaka University
Institue for Solid State Phyisics,
University of Tokyo
The Institute of Physical andChemical Research (RIKEN)
Faculty of Science, University ofTokyo
Faculty of Science, University ofTokyo
Faculty of Science, University of
Tokyo
National Laboratory of High Energy
Physics (KEK)

Teruhiro SUDA
1988 Toshio MATSUMOTO
Keiji KIKKAWA
Gunzi SAITO
1989 Isao TANIHATA
Kenichi NOMOTO
1990 Katsuhiko SATO
Yoshinori TOKURA
Kaoru YOKOYA- 26 -

Observation of the neutrinos from supernova
explosion

Observation of a submillimeterwave spectrumof the cosmic background radiation
Field theory of the string
New design and synthesis of organic superconductors
Study of nuclei by using unstable nuclear
beams
Theoretical study of supernova
Study of particle cosmology
Discovery of electron-type copperoxide superconductors
Study of the beam-beam interaction in a linear collider

Year

Name

1991 Hideo KITAMURA
Shuji SAITOMiki WADATI
1992 Yoshihisa YAMAMO-

Affiliation

National Laboratory of High Energy
Physics (KEK)
Institute for Molecular Science
Faculty of Science, Universuty ofTokyo
NTT Fundamental Research Institue

TO
Yoshichika ONUKI
Akira HASEGAWA
Tsutomu YANAGIDA
1993 Kimitaka ITOH

Institute of Material Engineering,
Tsukuba University
College of General Education,
Niigata University
Faculty of Science, Tohoku
University
National Institute for Fusion Science

Research Institute for Applied
Mechanics, Kyushu University
Koichi KATSUMATA The Institute of Physical andChemical Research (RIKEN)
1994 Arisato KAWABATA
Faculty of Science, Gakushuin
University
Tetsumi TANABE
Institue for Nuclear Study,
University of Tokyo
Yoichi IWASAKI
Institute of Physics, Tsukuba
University
Akira UKAWA
Institute of Physics, Tsukuba
University
Masanori OKAWA
National Laboratory of High Energy
Physics (KEK)
Masataka FUKUGITA Institute for Fundamental Physics,
Kyoto University
1995 Takeo SATOH
Graduate School of Science, Tohoku
University
Norio KAWAKAMI
Graduate School of Engeering,Osaka University
Sung-Kil YANG
Institute of Physics, Tsukuba
1996
University
Shuji NAKAMURA
Nichia Chemical Industry, Ltd

Subject

Development of the insertion-type lightsourceSpectroscopic study of intersteller molecules
Soliton physics and its application
Creation of photon number squeezed states
and the control of spontaneous emission
Study on the Fermi surface of itinerent heavyelectron systems

The see-saw mechanism for neutrino masses
Theory of the anomalous transport and the LH transition in high temperatureplasmas

Sanae ITOH-INOUE

Kingo ITAYA
Naomasa NAKAI
Makoto INOUE
Makoto MIYOSHI

Faculty of Engineering, Tohoku
University
National Astronomical Observatory
National Astronomical Observatory
National Astronomical Observatory- 27 -

Study of a new type of magnetic phase transition
Theory on the Anderson localization andquantum transport in mesoscopic systems
Precise measurement of electron-molecule
collisions by means of a cooler ring
Large-scale numerical simulations for the lattice QCD

Experimental studies of quantum phase separation at ultra-low temperatures
Study of onedimensional electron systems
based on conformal field theory

Study of very short wavelength semiconductor LASERClarification of the atomic processes at theboundary of solid and liquid
Discovery of the giant black hole at the
Galaxy center

Year

Name

1997 Tadashi KIFUNE
Toru TANIMORI
Ichiro SANDA
Hiroshi YASUOKA
1998 Jun AKIMITSU
Fujio SHIMIZU

Kunitaka KONDO
1999 Kenzo INOUE

Akira KAKUTO
Takaaki KAJITA
Yasunobu NAKAMURA
2000 Shuji ORITO
Akira YAMAMOTO
Ken-ichi KONISHI
Hisashi HORIUCHI

Affiliation

Institute for Cosmic Ray Research,
University of Tokyo
Faculty of Science, Tokyo Instituteof Technology
Faculty of Science, Nagoya
University
Institute for Solid State Physics,
University of Tokyo
College of Science and Engineering,
Aoyama Gakuin University
Institute for Laser Science,
University of ElectroCommunications
Institute of Physics, Tsukuba
University
Faculty of Science, Kyushu
University
Kyushu School of Engineering,
Kinki University nications
Institute for Cosmic Ray Research,
University of Tokyo
Fundamental and Environmental
Research Laboratories, NEC,
Graduate School of Science,
University of Tokyo
High Energy Accelerator Research
Organization
Physics Department, Pisa University
Faculty of Science, Kyoto University

Institute for Cosmic Ray Research,
University of Tokyo
Masayuki NAKAHATA Institute for Cosmic Ray Research,
University of Tokyo
Fumihiko TAKASAKI High Energy Accelerator Research
Organization (KEK)
Katsunobu OIDEHigh Energy Accelerator Research
Organization (KEK)
Kiichi AMAYA
Faculty of Engineering Science,
Osaka University
Katsuya SHIMIZU
Faculty of Engineering Science,
Osaka University
2002 Katsuzi KOYAMA
Graduate School of Science, Kyoto
University
2001 Yoichiro SUZUKI- 28 -

Subject

Study of ultra-high energy gamma ray emitters

Theory of CP violation in the B-meson system
Discovery of the spin-gap in high-temperature superconductors
Discovery of superconductivity in the material of ladder structure
Exploration of atomic wave holography

Contribution to the discovery of the top
quark
Quantum symmetry breaking of electro-weakinteraction in the supersymmetric standard
model

Discovery of the atmospheric neutrino anomaly
Observation and control of coherent twolevel systems by using superconducting elements
Observation of cosmic antiprotons

Discovery of the Konishi anomaly
Study of nuclei by means of molecular
dynamics for fermions
Discovery of neutrino oscillation by precise
observation of solar neutrinos

Discovery of CP violation in the B-meson
decay

Discovery of the superconductivity of oxygenand iron under very high pressure

Cosmic-ray acceleration in supernova remnants

Year

Name

Affiliation

Graduate School of Science,
University of Tokyo
Yasuki NAGAI
Research Center for Nuclear Physics,
Osaka University
Masayuki IGASHIRA Research Laboratory for Nuclear
Reactors, Tokyo Institute ofTechnology
Yoshio KITAOKA
Graduate School of Engineering
Science, Osaka University
Atsuto SUZUKI
Graduate School of Science, Tohoku
University
Takashi NAKANO
Research Center for Nuclear Physics,
Osaka University
Kimio NIWA
Graduate School of Science, Nagoya
University
Jaw-Shen TSAI
Fundamental and Environmental
Research Laboratory, NEC &RIKENNaoto NAGAOSA
Graduate School of Engineering,
University of Tokyo
Koichiro NISHIKAWA Graduate School of Science, Kyoto
University
Kosuke MORITA
The Institute of Physical andChemical Research (RIKEN)
Toshiki TAJIMA
Advanced Photon Research Center,
JAERI Kansai
Hidetoshi NISHIFaculty of Science, Tokyo Institute
MORI
of Technology
Osamu MISHIMA
National Institute for Materials
Science
Yutaka HOSOTANI
Graduate School of Science, Osaka
University
Seigo TARUCHA

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

- 29 -

Subject

Generation of artificial atoms and molecules
Study of fast neutron capture by nuclei

Clarification of the new superconducting
state by means of nuclear magnetic resonanceObservation of the disappearance of reactor
antineutrinos
Discovery of a new particle by using LASER
Compton gamma rays
Discovery of the tau neutrino by fully automatized scanning device for nuclear emulsion
Realization of quantum entanglement of two
quantum bits by Josephson junctions
Theoretical study of the anomalous Hall
effectObservation of long-base-line neutrino oscillation with an accelerator neutrino beam
Synthesis of a new 113th superheavy element
Pioneering studies of plasma electron acceleration by laser
Discovery of Nishimori line in random-spin
systems
Phase transition of the water/amorphous ice experimental studies of polyamorphism
Discovery of the Hosotani mechanism

Nishina Memorial Lectures
Year

Speaker

Title

1955

Sin-itiro Tomonaga

Cosmic Rays

Takeo Hatanaka

Changing Universe

Cecil F. Powell

Cosmic Rays

Oskar B. Klein

Problems Related to Small and Big Numbers of Physics

Oskar B. Klein

Gravitation Interaction between Dirac Particles

Seishi Kikuchi

Structure of Matter

Hiroo Kumagai

Experiments on Atomic Nuclei

Chihiro Ishii

Norikura Observatory and Cosmic-Ray Observation by

1956

1957

Balloon

1958

1959

1960

1961

Yuji Hagiwara

Relation between the Sun and the Earth

Chihiro Ishi

My Twenty Years of Cosmic-Ray ResearchJean L. Destouches

Non-Linear Theory of Field

Robert SerberStrong Coupling Theory

Shoten Oka

Biological Action of Radiation and the OrderJohn M. Blatt

The Status of the Theory of Superconductivity

Sin-itiro Tomonaga

Development of the Atomism

Victor F. Weisskopf

Elementary Particles

Yoshio Suga

Theory of Thermoelectric Refrigeration and its Applications

Yuichiro Aono

The Sun and the Ionosphere

Sin-itiro Tomonaga

Discovery of Nuclear Power

Ryoukiti Sagane

Nuclear Power Generation

J. Robert Oppenheimer

New Developments in Elementary Particle Theory

L. Rosenfeld

Foundation of the Quantum Mechnics

M. A. Markov

The Atomism in Modern Physics

Sin-itiro Tomonaga

The Radioactivity

S.N. Vernov

Radiation Belt Observed by Rockets and Artificial Satellites
in the Soviet Union

1962
1963
1965
1966

Donald A. Glaser

Bubble Chambers and Elementary Particle Physics

Minoru Oda

The Archeology of the Cosmos

E. W. Muller

Field Ion Microscope

Moriso Hirata

Physics of Cracks

Mitio Hatoyama

Electronics Age and Transistors

Noboru Takagi

Observation Rocket and Cosmic Science

Isidol I. Rabi

Social Responsibility of Scientists

Hideki Yukawa

Dr. Nishina, Mr. Tomonaga and I

Sin-itiro Tomonaga

Development of Quantum Electrodynamics:Personal Recollection

1967

Satio Hayakawa

Radiation Reveals the Universe

Werner C. Heisenberg

Abstraction in Modern Science ★★

- 31 -

Juntaro Kamahora

Early Days of Cancer Research

1968

Kodi Husimi

Early Days of Nuclear Fusion and Plasma Research

1969

Eiichi Goto

Forte and Weak of Computer1970

Sin-itiro Tomonaga

Reminiscences of Nuclear Physics

Kouichi Shimoda

Advancement of Laser Science1971

Hideki Yukawa

Character of Physicists

1972

Itaru WatanabeLife Science and Human’s Futures

1973

Chuji Tsuboi

The Earth Which is Alive1974

Sin-itiro Tomonaga

Changing Visions of the Universe:from the Copernicus to1975

Minoru Oda

X-ray Stars and Black Holes

1976

Sin-itiro Tomonaga

Introduction to Atomic Physics

1977

Kodi Husimi

Dream and Reality of Fusion Energy

1978

Felix BlochHistory of NMR

Felix Bloch

Early Days of Quantum Mechanics

Einstein

Norimune Aida

New Research of Friction Phenomena

1979

Satoshi Watanabe

Cooperation Phenomenon and Pattern Recognition

1980

Julian Schwinger

Two Shakers of Physics ★★

Morikazu Toda

Natural Phenomenon and Nonlinear Mathematics

R. E. Peierls

Model-making in Physics

Tetsuji Nishikawa

Search for Quarks - Ultimate Elementary Particles

W.K.H. Panofsky

From Linear Accelerators to Linear Colliders

Hiroichi Hasegawa

Cosmic Dusts and the Birth of Planets

Sadao Nakajima

World of Extremely Low Temperature

Tasuku Honjo

Moving Genes : Molecular Genetics Basis of Immunological

1981

1982

Phenomenon
1983

H. Schopper

CERN and LEP

Chien-Shiung Wu

The Discovery of the Parity Violation in Weak Interaction
and its Recent Development ★★

Gerard’t Hooft

Is Quantum Field Theory a Theory ?

John Bardeen

Evidence for Quantum Tunneling in Quasi-One-Dimensional
Metals

1984

1985

1986

E. M. Lifshitz

L.D. Landau ? His Life and Work

Humitaka Sato

Birth of the Universe

Freeman J. Dyson

Origins of Life ★★

Yasuo Tanaka

X-ray Astronomy in Japan

Carlo Rubbia

Discovery of Weak Bosons

Yoichiro Nambu

Is “the Elementary Particle” a Particle?

Richard P. Feynman

The Computing Machines in the Future ★★

Ben R. Mottelson

Niels Bohr and Modern Physics ★★

Mikio Namiki

Quantum Mechanics and Observation Problems

Aaron Klug

Hierarchies in Chromosome Structure

Masaki Morimoto

Radio Waves Reveal the Universe- 32 -

1987

Ken Kikuchi

Searches for Elementary Particles by Large Accelerators

Nikolai G. BasovPhysical and Chemical Processes in Electroionization
Discharge Plasma

1988

1989

1990

Toshimitsu Yamazaki

Muon Spin: Rotation, Relaxation, and ResonanceKai Siegbahn

From Atomic Physics to Surface Science ★★

Masaki Morimoto

Ten Years in Radio Astrophysics

Masatoshi Koshiba

Neutrino Astrophysics: Birth and the Future

Philip W. Anderson

Theoretical Paradigms for the Sciences of Complexity ★★

Philip W. Anderson

Some Ideas on the Aesthetics of Science ★★

Humitaka Sato

Birth of the Universe

Kunihiko Kigoshi

Radiometric Dating

Leon V. Hove

Particle Physics and Cosmology ★★

Nobuhiko Saito

Protein: Reading and Decoding the Language of Amino Acid** see footnote **Yoshio Nishina Centennial Symposium — Evolutional Trends
in the Physical Sciences

1991

Daiichiro Sugimoto

New Method in Computer Physics: From Cosmos to Protein

1992

Mikio Namiki

Mystery in Modern Science: Quantum Phenomenon, Character of Microscopic World in Non-Daily LifeCharles H. Townes

What’s Going on in the Center of Our Galaxy

Yutaka Toyosawa

Paradox and Truth of Quantum Mechanics

Heinrich Rohrer

The New World of the Nanometer ★★

Heinrich Rohrer

Challenge for Proximal Probe Methods ★★

James W. Cronin

The Experimemtal Discovery of CP Violation ★★

Jun Kondo

Peculiar Behavior of Conduction Electrons

1994

Kinichiro Miura

Road to Protein Design

1995

Joseph H. Taylor

Binary Pulsers and Relativistic Gravity

Keiichi Maeda

Black Hole and Gravitational Wave: New Eyes for Observ-

1993

ing the Universe in the 21st Century
1996

Eiji Hirota

Science of Free Radical: Current Status and the Future

1997

Ilya Prigogine

Is Future Given?

Makoto Inoue

Observing a Huge Back Hole

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes

From Rice to Snow ★★

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes

Artificial Muscle

Harold W. Kroto

Science: A Round Peg in a Square World ★★

Shuji Nakamura

Progress of Blue Luminescence Device : LED that Replaces

1998

Light Bulb
1999

Norio Kaifu

SUBARU Telescope and New Space Observation

2000

Claude Cohen-Tannoudji

Manipulating Atoms with Light

Jerome Isaac Friedman

Are We Really Made of Quarks ? ★★

Akira Tonomura

Look into the Quantum World

2001

Sumio Iijima

Basis and Application of Carbon Nanotubes

2002

Yoji Totsuka

Investigation of the Mystery of the Neutrino- 33 -

2003

Martinus J.G. Veltman

Very Elementary Particle Physics ★★

Atsuto Suzuki

Investigating the Depth of the Elementary Particle, the Earth,and the Sun with the Neutrino

2004

Yasunobu Nakamura

2005

Chen Ning Yang

My Life as a Physicist and Teacher

Chen Ning Yang

The Klein-Nishina Formula and Quantum Electrodynamics ★★

Muneyuki Date

Progress of Condensed Matter Science as Seen in Nishina

Superconducting Quantum Bit : Quantum Mechanics in theElectric Circuit

Memorial Prizes
Kazuhiko Nishijima

Yoshio Nishina and the Origin of Elementary Particle Physics
in Japan

2006

Makoto Kobayashi

Whereabouts of Elementary Particle Physics

2007

Kosuke Morita

Search for New Superheavy Elements* R. Kubo ★★, J. Kondo, M. Kotani, A. Bohr, G. Ekspong, R. Peierls, L.M. Ledreman, Y.
Nambu, B. Mottelson, P. Kienle, S. Nagamiya, M. Oda, L.P. Kadanoff, M. Suzuki, B.B.
Kadomtsev, J. Schwinger, V.L. Ginzburg, C.N. Yang, Yu.A. Ossipyan, H. Haken, J.J.
Hopfield, and A. Klug, published as Springer Proceedings in Physics 57 “Evolutional Trends
in the Physical Sciences”, M. Suzuki and R. Kubo, eds.,1991, Springer Verlag.
Reproduced in “Nishina Memorial Lectures - Creators of Modern Physics,” Lecture Notes
in Physics 746 (Springer Verlag, 2007)★★

- 34 -