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Tsujikawa Lab
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A lab that explores the beginning of the universe and dark energy through general relativity.
AboutAbout the lab
The nature of 95% of the universe is still unknown.
The Tsujikawa Lab studies the evolution of the universe from its early stages to the present, as well as the physics of strong-gravity objects such as black holes and neutron stars.
The foundation is Einstein's general relativity, but it has not yet been fully tested at the ultra-microscopic scales of the universe's birth or at the large scales involved in cosmic expansion.
About 95% of the present universe is occupied by something whose nature is unknown: dark energy and dark matter.
The lab aims to unravel these mysteries of the universe by comparing observational data with theory.
Key terms
- Dark energy
- An unidentified form of energy thought to be the cause of the accelerating expansion of the present universe
- Inflation
- A rapid, accelerating expansion thought to have occurred immediately after the universe was born
- Gravitational waves
- A phenomenon in which changes in gravity propagate through space as waves. They were first detected in 2015
NewsLab news
A doctoral student received the Excellence Award at the Presentation Contest of the Early Bird Results Report Meeting
A doctoral student received a Student Excellent Presentation Award at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Physical Society of Japan
Prof. Tsujikawa received the FY2025 (Reiwa 7) Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Prize for Science and Technology (Research Category)
A master's student received the Gold Award for poster presentation at the JGRC2025 conference
A master's student received the Master's Thesis Award in Physics and Applied Physics (Koizumi Award)
ResearchResearch themes
Based on general relativity and theories that extend it, the lab theoretically studies the physics of the early universe, the late universe, and strong-gravity objects. By comparing with observational data such as the cosmic microwave background, supernovae, and gravitational waves, it aims to develop a theory that can explain physical phenomena at a wide range of energy scales in a unified way.
*Illustrative imageThe Early Universe and Inflation
Inflation is the accelerated expansion thought to have occurred in the early universe. The lab builds models of it theoretically and tests them against observations of temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background. The search for primordial gravitational waves generated during the inflationary era is also progressing worldwide.
*Illustrative imageDensity Fluctuations and the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe
Density fluctuations are the origin of the cosmic microwave background and the large-scale structure of the universe. The lab theoretically traces their evolution and also investigates the properties of dark matter, which plays the leading role in forming large-scale structure through gravitational collapse.
*Illustrative imageThe Origin of Dark Energy
Observations of supernovae in 1998 showed that the present universe is also expanding at an accelerating rate. Dark energy, the cause of this acceleration, accounts for about 70% of the energy of the present universe, but its origin is unknown. The lab places constraints on models using observations of supernovae and the cosmic microwave background.
*Illustrative imageStrong-Gravity Objects and Gravitational Waves
The lab studies the physics of objects with strong gravity, such as black holes and neutron stars. Using observations of gravitational waves arriving from binary systems, it tests general relativity and theories that extend it in the strong-gravity regime.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Tsujikawa Lab consist of faculty, postdocs, doctoral and master's students, and undergraduate students.As of 2025
- ProfessorShinji Tsujikawa
VoicesStudent voices
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RelatedLabs similar to Tsujikawa Lab
Yamada LabSchool of Advanced Science and Engineering, Department of PhysicsTheoretical astrophysics
Inoe LabSchool of Advanced Science and Engineering, Department of PhysicsObservational space astrophysics
Takano LabSchool of Advanced Science and Engineering, Department of PhysicsTheoretical nuclear physics
Takano LabSchool of Advanced Science and Engineering, Department of PhysicsBiophysicsThe 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: “Illustris Dark Matter and Gas” Illustris Collaboration / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- The Early Universe and Inflation: “Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)” ESA and the Planck Collaboration / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Density Fluctuations and the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe: “Dark matter halo” Wikipedia利用者 Cosmo0 / Public domain (cropped)
- The Origin of Dark Energy: “SN 2006X, before and after the Type Ia Supernova explosion (artist's impression)” ESO / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Strong-Gravity Objects and Gravitational Waves: “Black hole created via binary black hole merger” SXS Collaboration / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Yamada Lab): “Keplers supernova” NASA/ESA/JHU/R.Sankrit & W.Blair / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Inoe Lab): “Webb's First Deep Field” NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Takano Lab): “Crab Nebula” NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University) / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Takano Lab): “Crowded cytosol” TimVickers / Public domain (cropped)
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