was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

theoretical physicist known for his work on

CP-violation In particle physics, CP violation is a violation of CP-symmetry (or charge conjugation parity symmetry): the combination of C-symmetry (charge symmetry) and P-symmetry ( parity symmetry). CP-symmetry states that the laws of physics should be the ...

who was awarded one quarter of the 2008

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 " ...

"for the discovery of the origin of the

broken symmetry In physics, symmetry breaking is a phenomenon in which (infinitesimally) small fluctuations acting on a system crossing a critical point decide the system's fate, by determining which branch of a bifurcation is taken. To an outside observe ...

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 nuclei. All commonly o ...

s in nature."

Early life and education

Maskawa was born in Nagoya, Japan. After World War II ended, the Maskawa family operated as a sugar wholesaler. A native of

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture an ...

, Toshihide Maskawa graduated from Nagoya University in 1962 and received a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in particle physics from the same university in 1967. His doctoral advisor was the physicist

Shoichi Sakata was a Japanese physicist and Marxist who was internationally known for theoretical work on the subatomic particles.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sakata Shōichi''" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ...

. From early life Maskawa liked

trivia Trivia is information and data that are considered to be of little value. It can be contrasted with general knowledge and common sense. Latin Etymology The ancient Romans used the word ''triviae'' to describe where one road split or forked ...

, also studied mathematics, chemistry, linguistics and various books. In high school, he loved novels, especially detective and mystery stories and novels by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.

Career

At Kyoto University in the early 1970s, he collaborated with Makoto Kobayashi on explaining broken symmetry (the CP violation) within the Standard Model 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 or b quark, also known as the beauty quark, is a third-generation heavy quark with a charge of − ''e''. All quarks are described in a similar way by electroweak and quantum chromodynamics, but the bottom quark has excep ...

. 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, which defines the mixing parameters between

s was the result of this work. Kobayashi and Maskawa were jointly awarded half of the 2008

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 contributions to the field of theoretical physics, he was awarded half of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008 for the discovery in 1960 of the mechanism ...

. Maskawa was director of the

Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics The is a research institute in the field of theoretical physics, attached to Kyoto University in Japan. It was inaugurated in 1952. While the center is often referred to as "YITP", this can be confusing as YITP also stands for the C. N. Yang Ins ...

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, director of Maskawa Institute for Science and Culture at

Kyoto Sangyo University is a private university in Kyoto, Japan. History The university was established in 1965. The founder was Toshima Araki (, 1897–1978), and Hideo Iwakuro (岩畔豪雄 Iwakuro Hideo, 10 October 1897 – 22 November 1970), the Japanese spy ...

and professor emeritus at Kyoto University.

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. The audience followed the subtitles on the screen behind him.

Death

Maskawa died on 23 July 2021 in Kyoto, Japan, aged 81.

Professional record

*July 1967 – Research Associate of the Faculty of Science, Nagoya University *May 1970 – Research Associate of the Faculty of Science, Kyoto University *April 1976 – Associate Professor of the Institute for Nuclear Study,

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

*April 1980 – Professor of the Research Institute for Fundamental Physics (present

), Kyoto University *November 1990 – Professor of the Faculty of Science, Kyoto University * 1995 – Councilor, Kyoto University * 1997 ** January – Professor of Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University ** April – Director of Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University * 2003 ** April – Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University ** April – Professor of

(till May 2009) * October 2004 – Director of the Research Institute,

* October 2007 – Distinguished Invited University Professor of Nagoya University * 2009 ** February – Trustee of

** March – University Professor of Nagoya University ** June – Head of Maskawa Juku and Professor,

(till March 2019) * 2010 ** April – Director of the Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe (KMI) at Nagoya University ** December – Member of the Japan Academy * 2018 ** April – Director Emeritus of KMI at Nagoya University * April 2019 – Professor Emeritus of

Recognition

*1979 – Nishina Memorial Prize *1985 –

Sakurai Prize The J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics, is presented by the American Physical Society at its annual April Meeting, and honors outstanding achievement in particle physics theory. The prize consists of a monetary award ($10,000 U ...

*1985 – Japan Academy Prize *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 ...

*1995 – Chu-Nichi Culture Prize *2007 – High Energy and Particle Physics Prize by

European Physical Society The European Physical Society (EPS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe through methods such as physics outreach. Formally established in 1968, its membership includes the national physical so ...

*2008 –

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; recipien ...

*2010 – Member of Japan Academy

Political proposition

Toshihide Maskawa's slide rule at the Nobel Museum (51963)

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 M ...

issued a statement against the Japanese State Secrecy Law." The following is Maskawa's main political proposition: *Support for

Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is a clause in the national Constitution of Japan outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. The Constitution came into effect on 3 May 1947, following World War II. In its text, the state formally renounces t ...

*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 Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 resp ...

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

References

External links

Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe (KMI), Nagoya University
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maskawa, Toshihide 1940 births 2021 deaths People from Nagoya Japanese Nobel laureates Japanese physicists Nobel laureates in Physics Recipients of the Order of Culture Theoretical physicists J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics recipients Particle physicists Nagoya University alumni Nagoya University faculty