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Somiya Lab
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A lab that studies gravitational-wave telescope technologies and the quantum metrology of macroscopic objects.
AboutAbout the lab
Technology to detect ripples in spacetime.
The Somiya Lab researches the development of key component technologies for gravitational-wave telescopes and tests of quantum mechanics in macroscopic objects.
Gravitational waves, predicted by Einstein, are ripples in spacetime, and detecting them requires measuring extremely small changes in distance.
At KAGRA, the gravitational-wave telescope in the Kamioka mine in Gifu Prefecture, the lab has been in charge of the design of the entire interferometer.
The lab is also pursuing ASPIRE, a Japan-Australia exchange program that aims to build a high-frequency gravitational-wave telescope using quantum control.
Key terms
- Gravitational wave
- A distortion of spacetime, caused for example by the motion of heavy celestial objects, that propagates as a wave. It slightly changes the distance between objects.
- Interferometer
- A device that splits laser light, sends the beams back and forth, and measures tiny changes in length from the intensity of the light when the beams are recombined.
- Thermal noise
- Tiny fluctuations that interfere with measurement, caused by the thermal vibration of atoms in a material.
NewsLab news
Paper by a Program-Specific Assistant Professor accepted to Physical Review D
Paper by a student published in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Paper by a doctoral student published in Optics Express
Paper by a doctoral student accepted to Optics Express
ResearchResearch themes
The lab's main themes are the development of key component technologies for gravitational-wave telescopes and tests of macroscopic quantum mechanics. At KAGRA, the lab is in charge of the design of the entire interferometer, and it is now developing technologies to improve sensitivity further.
*Illustrative imageThermal noise in non-equilibrium systems
Taking on an unsolved problem that remains in KAGRA, the lab studies thermal noise in non-equilibrium systems as one line of research to improve sensitivity further.
*Illustrative imageGravity noise from groundwater
As one line of research to improve KAGRA's sensitivity, the lab studies gravity-gradient noise caused by groundwater. The lab believes this will also be useful for next-generation gravitational-wave telescopes in Europe and the US.
*Illustrative imageAmplifying gravitational-wave signals
The lab is developing a technique called parametric signal amplification. In an undergraduate research project, a device that amplifies gravitational-wave signals using nonlinear optical elements was also developed.
*Illustrative imageQuantum metrology of macroscopic objects
In parallel with developing gravitational-wave telescope technologies, the lab conducts experiments controlling mirrors weighing about a milligram, with the aim of achieving quantum metrology of macroscopic objects.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Somiya Lab consist of faculty, researchers, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, research students, and technical support staff.As of 2026
- ProfessorKentaro SomiyaPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorKenta Tanaka
- Program-Specific Assistant ProfessorHaoyu Wang
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Elementary Particle Theory Lab (Ito-Imamura Lab)School of Science, Department of PhysicsParticle theory, superstring theory, quantum field theoryThe information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
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: “In-construction KAGRA gravitational-wave detector” Christopher Berry / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Thermal noise in non-equilibrium systems: “LIGOsensitivity” Suiseiseki / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Gravity noise from groundwater: “Underground River, Marble Arch Cave - geograph.org.uk - 7025273” N Chadwick / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Amplifying gravitational-wave signals: “OPO Crystals” Kkmurray / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Quantum metrology of macroscopic objects: “Dielectric laser mirror from a dye laser” Zaereth / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (須山研究室): “Gravitational lensing in the galaxy cluster Abell 370 (captured by the Hubble Space Telescope)” NASA, ESA, the Hubble SM4 ERO Team and ST-ECF / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (賀川研究室): “Meissner effect p1390048” Mai-Linh Doan / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (慈道研究室): “Quantum Fluctuations” Derek Leinweber / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (素粒子論研究室
（伊藤・ 今村研究室） ): “CalabiYau5” Andrew J. Hanson / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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