The discovery of Higgs boson is a grand monumental achievement that leads to the completion of the “standard model"(SM) of the particle physics. However, it is suggested that the world with the structure of higher symmetry, vacuum is concealed beyond the standard model. The key to reveal such a new world is the collision experiment with the world's highest energy accelerator LHC. I am involved in data analysis for searching for new particles, development research on high-speed trigger circuit and data acquisition system for "Higher Luminosity LHC", a future project in particle physics.
In addition, I am focusing on the development of radiation simulation program named as Geant 4. This is used not only in particle physics but also in the medical field such as the design and operation of radiotherapy equipment.
We are also putting emphasis on education that graduate students can leap forward as researchers and technicians in the future through research on both hardware and software.
I am mainly working on the underground experiments to study astroparticle physics. Especially, I am working the following projects; neutrino observation with the world's largest underground water Cherenkov detector: Super-Kamiokande (SK), the research and development related to Hyper-Kamiokande (HK), the next-generation large water Cherenkov detector, which is scheduled to start observations in 2027, search for rare events like dark matter using a large liquid xenon detector (XENONnT detector), and Tokai to Kamioka long base line neutrino oscillation experiment (T2K experiment). I am also working on the research and development of extremely low-radiation technology, which is indispensable for these underground experiments. In particular, I am working on assay and reduction of radioactive noble gas radon which becomes a common background in many underground experiments.
Since the nature of neutrinos and the existence of dark matter in universe are phenomena which can not be explained by the Standard Model of elementary particle physics, it is necessary to unravel their properties by experiment. Students interested in such research fields, please do not hesitate to contact me by e-mail etc. These are international collaborative researches. International students are also accepted.
My research interest is new physics search, which is present only at the energy beyond the reach of human being so far. For that I am working on the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), the highest energy accelerator in the world built at CERN. I am participating the ATLAS international collaboration. I am particularly interested in finding new physics beyond the so-called Standard Model, through anomalous behaviour of collision events by means of precision measurements on production yield of known particles, such as top quarks.
In hadron colliders where composite particle(s) are collided each other, the events of interest are hidden behind enormous amount of background produced through the Strong Interaction. It is difficult to precisely predict the amount of such background as their behaviour is “emergent” – the behaviour that cannot easily be predicted from the fundamental physics laws. For their understanding, it is important to carefully observe the nature of the experimental data. I believe the fun in research is to “discover” what the data tells us, with as little bias and prejudice, even though it is a tedious procedure.
Another fascinating feature in high energy physics is that it is truly international; you also communicate with people worldwide in a large international collaboration. You will soon notice the people in the world are not very different, although they are diverse in detail. You are an academic and cultural ambassador, why don’t you join us? We also welcome students from abroad. The applicant should have strong interest in experimental high energy physics and have graduated bachelor-level course for physical sciences in a university or an equivalent institute.
My research topic is dark matter which exists more than five times than the standard matter in the universe.
I would like to reveal the nature of this mysterious matter by the direct detection measurement.
When the Standard Model is completed by the discovery of the Higgs particle, I am interested in exploring physics beyond the Standard Model.
In order to find the signs beyond the Standard Model, from the experimental data, I research in ATLAS, one of the biggest international collaboration, at LHC which is the world's highest energy collider in CERN.
Research topics are not only data analysis for physics, but also the operations and improvements of the current system, and the development of high-speed trigger system for the future.
Technologies of electronics and computing are important fields, and those who are interested in those state-of-the-art technical information are highly welcome.
Shall we research together?
It is more than 60 years since neutrinos were discovered, but there are still a lot of unknown properties about them. I have been involved in neutrino physics experimentally by using accelerators and the large water cherenkov detector, Super-Kamiokande. The more we investigate neutrinos, the more strange and interesting research objects we find that they are. Let’s enjoy neutrino physics with us, shall we ?
Hiroshi Ito
My topics are experiments related to subterranean astroparticles. In particular, I participate in the Super-Kamiokande and Hyper-Kamiokande experiments and study supernova neutrinos and solar neutrinos. Neutrinos from supernova explosions are extremely rare events that have not been observed in the world since their first observation in 1987. Many experimental groups are searching for them. Since the birth of the universe until today, neutrinos produced by supernova explosions in our galaxy and beyond have been predicted to be sent to us from distant galaxies in the background. We are searching for supernova neutrinos and diffuse supernova neutrino backgrounds to elucidate the mechanism of supernova explosions during the stellar evolution.
For these neutrino observations, ultra-low radioactivity techniques are essential. We need to reduce the background and estimate it precisely. My topics are also the development of ultra-low-background techniques for underground experiments such as neutrino, dark matter, and double beta decay search. In particular, we have recently focused on surface alpha-ray image analysis technology, and are actively pursuing its application not only in the area of underground cosmic particles but also in other areas.
We invite you to join us in our research.
Satoshi Higashino
Dark matter is too mysterious. We realize that there is unknown substance with mass in the universe. We call the substance “dark matter”. We also know that it exists in our galaxyHowever, no one understands what the dark matter is. My dream is to detect such a mysterious matter and to unveil its identity by investigation of its property. In order to promote the advanced search for dark matter, it is necessary to improve our experimental apparatuses more and more. It is not easy way to develop instruments with cutting-edge technology, but it’s very rewarding.I enjoy working with students and faculty staffs to advance our researches. Let’s explore the mysteries of dark matter together with our knowledgeable colleagues.
