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 experimen ...
and the first Japanese
Nobel laureate
The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...
for his prediction of the
pi meson
In particle physics, a pion (or a pi meson, denoted with the Greek letter pi: ) is any of three subatomic particles: , , and . Each pion consists of a quark and an antiquark and is therefore a meson. Pions are the lightest mesons and, more g ...
, or pion.
Biography
He was born as Hideki Ogawa in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
and grew up in
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
with two older brothers, two older sisters, and two younger brothers.
He read the Confucian ''
Doctrine of the Mean
The ''Doctrine of the Mean'' or ''Zhongyong'' is one of the Four Books of classical Chinese philosophy and a central doctrine of Confucianism. The text is attributed to Zisi (Kong Ji), the only grandson of Confucius (Kong Zi). It was originall ...
'', and later
Lao-Tzu
Laozi (), also known by numerous other names, was a semilegendary ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher. Laozi ( zh, ) is a Chinese honorific, generally translated as "the Old Master". Traditional accounts say he was born as in the state of ...
and
Chuang-Tzu. His father, for a time, considered sending him to technical college rather than university since he was "not as outstanding a student as his older brothers". However, when his father broached the idea with his middle school principal, the principal praised his "high potential" in mathematics and offered to adopt Ogawa himself in order to keep him on a scholarly career. At that, his father relented.
Ogawa decided against becoming a mathematician when in high school; his teacher marked his exam answer as incorrect when Ogawa proved a theorem but in a different manner than the teacher expected.
He decided against a career in experimental physics in college when he demonstrated clumsiness in glassblowing, a requirement for experiments in
spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...
.
In 1929, after receiving his degree from
Kyoto Imperial University
, mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture
, established =
, type = Public (National)
, endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 billion USD)
, faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff)
, administrative_staff = 3,978 (Total Staff)
, students = ...
, he stayed on as a lecturer for four years. After graduation, he was interested in
theoretical physics
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 experim ...
, particularly in the theory of
elementary particle
In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a subatomic particle that is not composed of other particles. Particles currently thought to be elementary include electrons, the fundamental fermions ( quarks, leptons, an ...
s. In 1932, he married . In accordance with Japanese customs of the time, since he came from a family with many sons but his father-in-law Genyo had none, he was adopted by Genyo and changed his family name from Ogawa to Yukawa.
The couple had two sons, Harumi and Takaaki. In 1933 he became an assistant professor at
Osaka University
, abbreviated as , is a public research university located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is one of Japan's former Imperial Universities and a Designated National University listed as a "Top Type" university in the Top Global University Project. ...
, at 26 years old.
In 1935 he published his theory of
meson
In particle physics, a meson ( or ) is a type of hadronic subatomic particle composed of an equal number of quarks and antiquarks, usually one of each, bound together by the strong interaction. Because mesons are composed of quark subparticles ...
s, which explained the interaction between
proton
A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
s and
neutron
The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the nuclei of atoms. Since protons and neutrons beh ...
s, and was a major influence on research into elementary particles.
In 1940 he became a professor in
Kyoto University
, mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture
, established =
, type = National university, Public (National)
, endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD)
, faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff)
, administrative_staff ...
. In 1940 he won the
Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy
The is a prestigious honor conferred to two of the recipients of the Japan Academy Prize.
Overviews
It is awarded in two categories: humanities and natural sciences. The Emperor and Empress visit the awarding ceremony and present a vase to ...
, in 1943 the
Decoration of Cultural Merit from the
Japanese government. In 1949 he became a professor at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, the same year he received the
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
, after the discovery by
Cecil Frank Powell
Cecil Frank Powell, FRS (5 December 1903 – 9 August 1969) was a British physicist, and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for heading the team that developed the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and for the resulting discovery of ...
,
Giuseppe Occhialini
Giuseppe Paolo Stanislao "Beppo" Occhialini ForMemRS (; 5 December 1907 – 30 December 1993) was an Italian physicist who contributed to the discovery of the pion or pi-meson decay in 1947 with César Lattes and Cecil Frank Powell, the latter ...
and
César Lattes
Cesare Mansueto Giulio Lattes (11 July 1924 – 8 March 2005), also known as César Lattes, was a Brazilian experimental physicist, one of the discoverers of the pion, a composite subatomic particle made of a quark and an antiquark.
Life
Latte ...
of Yukawa's predicted
pi meson
In particle physics, a pion (or a pi meson, denoted with the Greek letter pi: ) is any of three subatomic particles: , , and . Each pion consists of a quark and an antiquark and is therefore a meson. Pions are the lightest mesons and, more g ...
in 1947. Yukawa also worked on the theory of
K-capture
Electron capture (K-electron capture, also K-capture, or L-electron capture, L-capture) is a process in which the proton-rich nucleus of an electrically neutral atom absorbs an inner atomic electron, usually from the K or L electron shells. Thi ...
, in which a low energy electron is absorbed by the nucleus, after its initial prediction by
G. C. Wick.
[Segré, Emilio (1987) "K-Electron Capture by Nuclei", pp. 11–12, chapter 3 in ''Discovering Alvarez: selected works of Luis W. Alvarez, with commentary by his students and colleagues'', Luis W. Alvarez and W. Peter Trower, University of Chicago Press. .]
Yukawa became the first chairman of
Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics in 1953. He received a Doctorate, ''
honoris causa
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
,'' from the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
and honorary memberships in the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
,
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
, the
Indian Academy of Sciences
The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...
, the International Academy of Philosophy and Sciences, the United States
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
,
the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
,
the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
,
and the
Pontificia Academia Scientiarum.
He was an editor of ''Progress of Theoretical Physics'',
and published the books ''Introduction to Quantum Mechanics'' (1946) and ''Introduction to the Theory of Elementary Particles'' (1948).
In 1955, he joined ten other leading scientists and intellectuals in signing the
Russell–Einstein Manifesto
The Russell–Einstein Manifesto was issued in London on 9 July 1955 by Bertrand Russell in the midst of the Cold War. It highlighted the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and called for world leaders to seek peaceful resolutions to international ...
, calling for
nuclear disarmament
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the Atomic nucleus, nucleus of the atom:
*Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
*Nuclear ...
.
Yukawa retired from Kyoto University in 1970 as a Professor Emeritus. Owing to increasing infirmity, in his final years he appeared in public in a wheelchair. He died at his home in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, on 8 September 1981 from pneumonia and heart failure, aged 74. His tomb is in
Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto
is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan.
History
It was created in 1929 when it was split off from Shimogyō-ku. During the years 1931 to 1976 it also covered the area of present-day Yamashina-ku, which ...
.
Solo violinist
Diana Yukawa
is a Japanese-born British solo violinist and composer. She has released four solo albums and one digital EP.
Personal life
Yukawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, to English ballet dancer Susanne Bayly and Japanese banker Akihisa Yukawa one month af ...
(ダイアナ湯川) is a close relative of Hideki Yukawa.
Recognition
*1940 –
Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy
The is a prestigious honor conferred to two of the recipients of the Japan Academy Prize.
Overviews
It is awarded in two categories: humanities and natural sciences. The Emperor and Empress visit the awarding ceremony and present a vase to ...
*1941 – Academic Noma Award
*1943 –
Order of Culture
The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture in general; recipient ...
*1949 –
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
*1963 – Elected a
Foreign Member Royal Society (ForMemRS)
*1964 –
Lomonosov Gold Medal
The Lomonosov Gold Medal (russian: Большая золотая медаль имени М. В. Ломоносова ''Bol'shaya zolotaya medal' imeni M. V. Lomonosova''), named after Russian scientist and polymath Mikhail Lomonosov, is awarde ...
*1967 –
Pour le Mérite
The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Or ...
*1967 – Medal of the
Pontifical Academy of Sciences
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences ( it, Pontificia accademia delle scienze, la, Pontificia Academia Scientiarum) is a Academy of sciences, scientific academy of the Vatican City, established in 1936 by Pope Pius XI. Its aim is to promote the ...
*1977 – Grand Cordon of the
Order of the Rising Sun
The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...
*1981 –
Junior Second Rank (8 September; posthumous)
Bibliography
* ''Profiles of Japanese science and scientists, 1970'' – supervisory editor: Hideki Yukawa (1970)
* ''Creativity and intuition: a physicist looks at East and West'' by Hideki Yukawa; translated by John Bester (1973)
* ''Scientific works'' (1979)
* ''Tabibito (旅人) – The Traveler'' by Hideki Yukawa; translated by L. Brown & R. Yoshida (1982),
See also
*
Yukawa potential
In particle, atomic and condensed matter physics, a Yukawa potential (also called a screened Coulomb potential) is a potential named after the Japanese physicist Hideki Yukawa. The potential is of the form:
:V_\text(r)= -g^2\frac,
where is a ...
, an approximation for the binding force in an atomic nucleus
*
Yukawa interaction
In particle physics, Yukawa's interaction or Yukawa coupling, named after Hideki Yukawa, is an interaction between particles according to the Yukawa potential. Specifically, it is a scalar field (or pseudoscalar field) and a Dirac field of the ...
*
''Progress of Theoretical Physics''
*
List of Japanese Nobel laureates
Since 1949, there have been 29 Japanese List of Nobel laureates, laureates of the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize is a Sweden-based international monetary prize. The award was established by the 1895 will and estate of Swedish chemist and inventor ...
*
List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Kyoto University
This list of Nobel laureates by university affiliation shows the university affiliations of individual winners of the Nobel Prize since 1901 and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences since 1969. The affiliations are those at the time of th ...
*
6913 Yukawa – an asteroid named after Hideki Yukawa
References
External links
*
*
Paper: On the Interaction of Elementary Particles. I– paper for which Yukawa received the Nobel Prize
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yukawa, Hideki
1907 births
1981 deaths
20th-century Japanese physicists
Osaka University faculty
Kyoto University faculty
University of Tokyo faculty
Columbia University faculty
Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars
Kyoto University alumni
Osaka University alumni
Nobel laureates in Physics
Japanese Nobel laureates
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Foreign Members of the Royal Society
Foreign Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Foreign Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy
Recipients of the Order of Culture
Laureates of the Imperial Prize
Recipients of the Lomonosov Gold Medal
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Theoretical physicists
Particle physicists
Riken personnel
Mukoyōshi
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Presidents of the Physical Society of Japan