About us
The Theoretical Physics Group is located on the 2nd floor of the Faculty of Science Building on the Gofuku Campus. Faculty members formally belong to the Graduate School of Science and Engineering for Research (Science), and graduate students to the Graduate School of Science and Engineering for Education (Science). The Theoretical Physics Group benefits from the geographical vicinity of the Kamioka Observatory, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research. The research activities of our group include:
Particle Phenomenology
Central studies of the group are building new particle physics models beyond the Standard Model, and phenomenological tests of such models at high energy physics experiments, e.g. the CERN Large Hadron Collider. In particular, the structure of the Higgs sector, that of the quark and lepton flavor sectors, as well as the origin of neutrino masses are addressed. These studies aim at revealing the underlying physics theory.
Particle Cosmology
Members of the group carry out studies on baryon asymmetry of the Universe, dark matter and inflation from the particle physics viewpoint. The group investigates predictions of well-motivated particle physics models as well as their signals expected at particle physics experiments and astrophysical observations, aiming at understanding the early evolution of the Universe.
Student Life
Example of the textbooks for undergraduate course of our group:
■ "Quarks and Leptons: An Introductory Course in Modern Particle Physics", F. Halzen and A.D. Martin, 1984, John Wiley & Sons Inc.
■ "A first course in General Relativity", B. Sshutz, 2009, Cambridge University Press
■ "The Early Universe", E. Kolb, 1994, Westview Press
Study about the particle physics starts from the 1st grade of the Master course. The following textbook is frequently used:
■ "An Introduction To Quantum Field Theory", M.E. Peskin, 1995, CRC Press
and personal research from the end of the 1st year of the Master course.
At the Doctor course, the research gets more and more academic. Presentation at the international and domestic meetings are highly encouraged.
Interactions with other research groups
The Theoretical Physics Group organizes regular theory seminars.
Members of the Theoretical Physics Group take part in the regular meetings of the New Higgs Working Group four-monthly with theorists working on Higgs phenomenology and its connections to new physics for discussions and collaborations.
Members of the Theoretical Physics Group hold an annual spring school in May with researchers and graduate students at Niigata University, Kanazawa University and Fukui University.
The Theoretical Physics Group holds a biennial international mini-workshop in February to bring together theorists working on phenomenology beyond the Standard Model and particle cosmology.
N. Hiroshima(Assistant Prof.) has affiliations at Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences Program, RIKEN (Visiting Scientist) and Nambu Yoichiro Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (Special Researcher). Collaborations with these institutes are highly active.