NTU «KhPI» organized a lecture by Takaaki Kajita, Laureate of the Nobel Prize in Physics, a famous Japanese physicist and cosmic neutrino researcher. It was dedicated to the study of the Universe using neutrinos and gravitational waves. The event, held online, brought together nearly 300 scientists from Ukraine, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and Belgium. The lecture was one of the many festive events held at Kharkiv Polytechnic on the Science Day of Ukraine.
Professor Kajita devoted his report to the exploring of neutrinos, a stable electric neutral elementary particle whose mass is close to zero. He spoke about gravitational waves, where they come from, what they are associated with, and how to measure them. The Nobel laureate believes that neutrinos are a kind of key to a better understanding of elementary particles and the Universe. In the future, they will help scientists make many fundamental discoveries.
Takaaki Kajita shared his own experience of research at the Kamiokande and Super-Kamiokande detectors at the Kamioka Observatory in central Japan. The scientist noted that the Super-Kamiokande, which is currently under construction, will become the next generation neutrino detector. The experiment is scheduled to take place in 2027. This is an international project that brings together about 600 scientists and specialists from 22 countries.
It should be noted that Professor Takaaki Kajita is the head of the KAGRA project, which aims to explore gravitational wave astronomy. This program was launched in 2010 and aims to improve scientific results.
At the end of the event, the scientist wished all Ukrainians a speedy peace in the country and the opportunity to work together in various scientific researches.
The lecture caused a lively discussion among leading and young scientists, students and postgraduate students of Kharkiv Polytechnic.
Professor Kajita is one of 194 Laureates of the Nobel Prize who in 2022 expressed their support for the Ukrainian people and a free, independent Ukraine after the beginning of russia’s war against our country. Takaaki Kajita is also a signatory to the letter against the regime of Vladimir Putin, in which he, along with other leading figures in science, economics and literature, made an appeal to the international community to increase support for Ukraine in its opposition to russian aggression.
Note:
Takaaki Kajita is a Distinguished University Professor of the University of Tokyo, and from 2008 to 2022 he was the director of the Cosmic Ray Research Institute at the University of Tokyo . Until September 2023, he was the President of the Science Council of Japan. In 1986, Prof. Kajita received his PhD from the University of Tokyo School of Science and conducted research at the Kamiokande and Super-Kamiokande detectors at the Kamioka Observatory in central Japan. In 1998, at the Neutrino International Conference in Takayama, Japan, he presented the results of an analysis that provided strong evidence for atmospheric neutrino oscillations. In 2015, Takaaki Kajita was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his role in the discovery of neutrino oscillations.