Research

Research topics & publications

Background

The Standard Model of particle physics was cast into its present form with Weinberg's 1967 paper and completed with the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012. Written in the language of quantum field theory — which unifies special relativity and quantum mechanics — the Standard Model provides a theoretically inseparable description of the electromagnetic, weak, and strong interactions.

The remaining challenge is how to construct a consistent quantum theory of gravity, one of the greatest mysteries in physics for over a century. Superstring theory is expected to contain quantum gravity as a certain limit, but even after the first and second superstring revolutions the path to an ultimate theory of quantum gravity remains long.

Main research topics

Standard Model criticality & Higgs inflation

The fact that the Higgs self-coupling is nearly zero near the Planck scale — the so-called "criticality" of the Standard Model — is tied to inflation in the early universe, dark matter, and the origin of matter–antimatter asymmetry.

Quantum gravity

Mechanisms by which gravity emerges dynamically from a hidden local Lorentz symmetry, and related directions.

Wave-packet formulation of quantum field theory

Three-dimensional Gaussian wave-packet formalism refining the particle picture, decoherence in neutrino oscillations, and related topics.

Lattice quantum field theory

Numerical approaches to non-perturbative quantum field theory, such as lattice QCD.

Foundations of quantum mechanics

Uncertainty relations, quantum measurement, time in quantum mechanics, and related mathematical aspects.

Machine learning

Applications of deep learning and generative models to physics, and machine-learning research informed by physics-based perspectives.

Publications

KAKENHI grants

Kinya Oda / Akio Tomiya