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Imai Lab (Nuclear Dynamics Lab / DONUTS)
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The lab uses nuclei produced with accelerators to probe superheavy elements and the origin of the elements.
AboutAbout the lab
From the tiniest many-body systems to the origin of the elements.
The Imai Lab (Nuclear Dynamics Lab) investigates the properties of atomic nuclei through experiments.
An atomic nucleus is a quantum many-body system made up of a small number of two kinds of particles, protons and neutrons.
By studying both their static properties and the dynamic properties that appear after reactions, the lab aims to uncover superheavy elements yet to be discovered and the origin of the elements in the universe.
The lab is also advancing research on the elementary processes of nuclear fusion energy and the acquisition of nuclear data to help reduce nuclear waste.
Key terms
- quantum many-body system
- A system in which many particles obeying quantum mechanics are gathered together and influence one another. Atomic nuclei are one example.
- shape coexistence
- A phenomenon in which states with a spherical shape and states with a deformed shape exist, quantum mechanically mixed, within a single nucleus.
- superheavy elements
- Heavy elements with very large atomic numbers, produced artificially with accelerators.
NewsLab news
Research results published in Nucl. Instrum. Methods A
A collaborative research group discovers 22 new nuclides using a newly developed lead beam
Experiment demonstrates that a nucleus with three neutrons and three protons is unstable
Results announced toward reducing long-lived nuclear waste and elucidating the origin of the elements in the universe
ResearchResearch themes
Atomic nuclei are made up of two kinds of fermions (protons and neutrons). The lab explores the principles of quantum motion that arise from many-body effects, and the new kinds of order that emerge from them. In addition to nuclear structure, it works on nuclear reaction dynamics and on interdisciplinary research that applies knowledge from nuclear physics to problems in society.
*Illustrative imageExploring the mechanism of shape coexistence
In zirconium isotopes and in nuclei around neutron-rich magnesium-32, the ground state is thought to change abruptly from a spherical shape to a deformed one. The lab aims to clarify "shape coexistence," in which states with shapes different from the ground state mix quantum mechanically, and the mechanism that gives rise to it.
*Illustrative imageSearching for new collective motion
Inside nuclei, nucleons form pairs and enter a superfluid state. The lab investigates the interaction that creates these pairs in unstable nuclei, taking on the challenge of elucidating the equation of state that describes the interior of neutron stars. This correlation also leads to understanding the mechanism of two-proton decay.
*Illustrative imageCreating fast-spinning nuclei
The lab aims to search for hyperdeformed states, which have not yet been found, in which a nucleus is stretched into a rugby-ball shape and spins at high speed. It artificially produces large numbers of hafnium-178 states that keep spinning at high spin, uses them as targets, and tries to selectively produce states that spin even faster.
*Illustrative imageNuclei beyond the island of stability
Nuclei with lifetimes longer than a year are predicted to exist near atomic number 114 and neutron number 184. The lab studies nuclear reaction dynamics to locate this "island of stability" and to choose the best nuclear reactions for producing nuclei that reach it.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Imai Lab consist of faculty, researchers, and master's students (including trainees from other universities).As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorNobuaki ImaiPublications ↗
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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: “RIKEN RIBF P4213470” Kestrel / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Exploring the mechanism of shape coexistence: “NuclideMap” The viewer / Public domain (cropped)
- Searching for new collective motion: “Neutron Star Merger (noirlab2518f)” International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Double Dome Films / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Creating fast-spinning nuclei: “Hafnium crystal” Alchemist-hp (www.pse-mendelejew.de) / CC BY-SA 2.0 de (cropped)
- Nuclei beyond the island of stability: “Island-of-Stability2” Okia / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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