DATE2022.02.07 #Awards & Prizes

Kohei Kawabata (Department of Physics) wins the 12th (FY2021) JSPS Ikushi Prize

Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.

Kohei Kawabata has received the 12th (FY2021) JSPS Ikushi Prize.

In quantum mechanics textbooks, it is written that since the observables are real numbers, the operators describing them must have Hermitian properties. However, phenomena in nature such as nuclear decay phenomena, which have finite lifetimes and whose energies take complex values, have been known for a long time. Quantum mechanics based on non-Hermitian operators has been actively studied in recent years as a theory to describe such phenomena. Kohei Kawabata has tackled the problem of how the fundamental concepts of symmetry and topology can be understood in non-Hermitian physical systems, and has succeeded in constructing a fundamental theory. The series of research results achieved by Dr. Kawabata are important not only from the viewpoint of fundamental physics, providing a theoretical framework for understanding various physical phenomena described by non-Hermitian operators, but also in terms of providing guiding principles for designing topological devices.

Dr. Kawabata has been active internationally, collaborating with many researchers in Japan and abroad. His sharp ideas and research ability to link them to concrete results are outstanding, and we can expect more and more of his work. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Kawabata on receiving the Ikushi Prize.

The 12th (FY2021) Ikushi Prize of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
https://www.jsps.go.jp/j-ikushi-prize/index.html

(Responsibility: Professor Masahito Ueda, Department of Physics)