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Theoretical Physics of Particle Systems Lab
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A lab that uses theory to understand everything from elementary particles to atomic nuclei and the universe.
AboutAbout the lab
Taking on everything from particles to the universe through theory
The Theoretical Physics of Particle Systems Lab studies theoretical physics covering elementary particles, atomic nuclei, and the universe.
The lab pursues research from several perspectives: theoretical particle physics (field theory and superstring theory), theoretical nuclear physics, and cosmological theory.
It has become clear that the universe has not stood still, but has reached its present form through repeated, dramatic change.
From a theoretical standpoint, the lab takes on challenges such as the "invisible parts" of the universe (dark matter and dark energy).
The lab does not assign fourth-year undergraduates for their special research project (it accepts students from the graduate level).
Professor Yutaka Ookouchi is also listed as a faculty member of the School of Interdisciplinary Science and Innovation.
Key terms
- Superstring theory
- A theory that regards particles as tiny strings and tries to make general relativity and quantum mechanics compatible. It is defined in 10-dimensional spacetime
- Dark matter
- Matter of unknown nature that cannot be seen with light, but whose existence is shown by the gravity it exerts
- Symmetry
- The property that physical laws do not change even when you change your point of view. It is a clue when constructing theories of forces
- Three-nucleon force
- A force acting among three nucleons. It cannot be expressed as a combination of forces between pairs
NewsLab news
A doctoral student received an Outstanding Presentation Award at the Nuclear Three-Group Young Researchers Summer School 2025
A master's student received an Oral Award at the Summer School on Astronomy and Astrophysics
A paper by an international research group that clarified the mechanism of the force acting among three nucleons was published in Physics Letters B
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies theoretical physics from multiple perspectives, including theoretical particle physics, theoretical nuclear physics, and cosmological theory. From a theoretical standpoint, it takes on big questions: the unification of forces, interactions between particles, and the evolution of the universe.
*Illustrative imageTheories that unify the forces
Symmetry underlies nature, and when theories of gravity, electromagnetism, the strong force, and the weak force are built on it, they turn out to be strikingly similar. Theories that describe several of the forces in a unified way are supported by the discovery of the Higgs boson.
*Illustrative imageStrong interactions between particles
The lab tries to understand how quarks are confined inside hadrons by using correspondences between theories (dualities). In atomic nuclei, it studies the role of the three-nucleon force, which also leads to clarifying the state of the interior of neutron stars.
*Illustrative imageTracing the evolution of the universe
The lab deals with the evolution of the universe and of stars, from its birth as a hot soup, through the expansion of the universe and the formation of stars, to the deaths of massive stars that explode as supernovae or leave behind black holes. Mergers of black holes have been observed through gravitational waves.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Theoretical Physics of Particle Systems Lab are faculty and doctoral and master's students.As of 2026
- ProfessorYutaka Ookouchi
- Associate ProfessorKentaro Kojima
- Associate ProfessorKen'ichiro Nakazato
- Assistant ProfessorTokuro Fukui
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)” ESA and the Planck Collaboration / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Theories that unify the forces: “Standard Model of Elementary Particles” Cush / Public domain (cropped)
- Strong interactions between particles: “Quark structure proton” Arpad Horvath / CC BY-SA 2.5 (cropped)
- Tracing the evolution of the universe: “Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is a supernova remnant located about 11,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia (adding-dimension-to-cassiopeia-a)” X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO, NASA/JPL/Caltech/NuStar; Optical: NASA/STScI/HST; IR: NASA/STScI/JWST, NASA/JPL/CalTech/SST; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt, N. Wolk, and K. Arcand / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (理論核物理研究室): “The Crab Nebula (weic2326a)” NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, T. Temim (Princeton University) / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (素粒子実験研究室): “CMS Higgs-event” Lucas Taylor / CERN / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (量子宇宙物理理論研究室): “Universum” Heikenwaelder Hugo, Austria, , www.heikenwaelder.at / CC BY-SA 2.5 (cropped)
- Related lab (素粒子理論研究室): “Elementary Particle Interactions” ParticlesAndMath / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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