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Sagawa-Funo Lab
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The lab explores the ultimate limits of controlling matter at the intersection of physics and information/computation.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring where physics meets information and computation
Sagawa-Funo Lab theoretically studies the area where physics meets information and computation.
From the perspectives of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and quantum information and quantum control, the lab explores the ultimate limits of how well matter can be controlled.
Its goal is to clarify what kinds of computation and information-processing capabilities matter possesses.
Recently, the lab has taken an interest in the nonequilibrium dynamics of isolated quantum many-body systems and their capacity for quantum computation.
Key terms
- Nonequilibrium statistical mechanics
- A theory for understanding systems that keep changing away from equilibrium, based on the statistical behavior of large numbers of particles
- Fluctuation theorem
- A relation that expresses how likely it is that phenomena appearing to violate the second law of thermodynamics occur in small systems
- Maxwell's demon
- A being in a thought experiment that appears able to create a temperature difference without using energy, simply by distinguishing and sorting molecules
NewsLab news
A master's student received an Outstanding Presentation Award at the Summer School for Young Condensed Matter Physicists
Prof. Sagawa received the Japan Academy Medal
Prof. Sagawa received the JSPS Prize
A student received the Poster Award 2025 at the Special Seminar in Applied Physics
A master's student was selected as an Outstanding Presenter at the Summer School for Young Condensed Matter Physicists
ResearchResearch themes
The lab's research theme is the "physics of information/computation," and it works in the boundary area between nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and quantum information. While theoretically investigating the fundamental principles of physics, the lab also explores their potential engineering applications.
*Illustrative imageThermodynamics of Systems Far from Equilibrium
Systems far from equilibrium have almost no universal thermodynamic theory. The lab builds its research on nonequilibrium relations such as the "fluctuation theorem," which extends the second law of thermodynamics to situations far from equilibrium.
*Illustrative imageInformation Thermodynamics
This research combines information theory and nonequilibrium statistical physics. By incorporating information, it generalized the second law of thermodynamics and led to a resolution of the long-standing puzzle known as the "Maxwell's demon paradox."
*Illustrative imageThermodynamics of Nonequilibrium Steady States
The lab studies whether thermodynamics, which deals with transitions between equilibrium states, can be extended to "nonequilibrium steady states," in which a flow continues. It focuses on building a theory that uses "excess entropy production."
*Illustrative imageOrigin of Irreversibility
The lab studies how macroscopic, irreversible thermodynamics can be derived from quantum theory, which is reversible in time at the microscopic level. The theme also attracts attention from the perspective of ultracold atomic gases, in which isolated quantum systems can be realized experimentally.
MembersFaculty
The members of Sagawa-Funo Lab include faculty, project researchers, doctoral and master's students, special research students, and project specialist staff.As of 2026
- ProfessorTakahiro SagawaPublications ↗
- LecturerKen Funo
- Assistant ProfessorShota Sugimoto
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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: “Superconducting Quantum Chip with Dispersive Background” OJB Quantum / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Thermodynamics of Systems Far from Equilibrium: “Brownian trajectory” Roque345 / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Information Thermodynamics: “Demonio Maxwell 2” Tttrung / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Thermodynamics of Nonequilibrium Steady States: “BenardConvection-2” Harke / Public domain (cropped)
- Origin of Irreversibility: “Bose Einstein condensate” NIST/JILA/CU-Boulder / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Takasan Lab): “Homogeneous Nucleation Ising Model” Oerpli / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Gong Lab): “Patterns in the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction” Philip Ball - courtesy of Michael C. Rogers and Stephen Morris, University of Toronto / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Kobayashi Lab): “Snowflake macro photography 1” Alexey Kljatov / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Murakami Lab): “Möbius strip” David Benbennick / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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