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Theoretical Astrophysics Lab
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The lab theoretically explores the origin and evolution of the universe's various hierarchical structures.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring, through theory, the origins of everything from the whole universe to stars.
The Theoretical Astrophysics Lab theoretically studies the origin and evolution of the various hierarchical structures of the universe, from the universe as a whole to galaxies and stars.
Founded in 1957 by Prof. Hayashi, the lab conducts broad research centered on three pillars: gravitational waves and gravitational theory, cosmology, and astrophysics.
Members are encouraged to freely pursue topics that interest them, without narrowing the scope of their research.
The lab collaborates closely, in both education and research, with the Astrophysics and Cosmology Group at the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Key terms
- Gravitational waves
- Ripples of distortion in spacetime that propagate as waves, produced when massive objects move violently
- Black hole perturbation theory
- A method of calculating small disturbances around a black hole to obtain quantities such as the waveform of gravitational waves
- First stars (Population III stars)
- The first stars born in the universe, thought to have been about 100 times the mass of the Sun
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
The lab conducts theoretical research on the origin and evolution of the universe's various hierarchical structures, from the universe as a whole to galaxies and stars. Its research centers on three pillars: gravitational waves and gravitational theory, cosmology, and astrophysics.
*Illustrative imageGravitational Waves and Gravitational Theory
The lab theoretically predicts the waveforms of gravitational waves emitted by events such as mergers of binary neutron stars and binary black holes, using both black hole perturbation theory and numerical relativity.
*Illustrative imageCosmology
The lab seeks to clarify, through physics, the history of the universe from its earliest stages to the present.
*Illustrative imageFormation of Celestial Objects in the Early Universe
Rather than relying on empirical rules from observations, the lab builds theories deductively from fundamental physics. Recently, research that theoretically predicts the formation processes of the first stars born in the universe (Population III stars) and of supermassive black holes has been especially active.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Theoretical Astrophysics Lab consist of faculty, postdoctoral researchers (PDs), and doctoral and master's students.As of 2026
- ProfessorTakahiro Tanaka
- Associate ProfessorTakashi Hosokawa
- Assistant ProfessorNaoki Seto
- Assistant ProfessorYoshiyuki Yamada
- Affiliated Assistant ProfessorHiroki Takeda
- Program-Specific Assistant ProfessorHidetoshi Omiya
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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: “MergingBinaryBlackHoles” NASA/Ames Research Center/Christopher E. Henze / Public domain (cropped)
- Gravitational Waves and Gravitational Theory: “Maya-NR-Simulation-with-Waveform-frame788-overlay” File:Maya-NR-Simulation-with-Waveform-frame788.png: Deborah Ferguson, Karan Jani, Deirdre Shoemaker, Pablo Laguna, Georgia Tech, MAYA Collaboration derivative work: MikeRun / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Cosmology: “WMAP 2012” NASA / WMAP Science Team / Public domain (cropped)
- Formation of Celestial Objects in the Early Universe: “First stars” NASA/JPL-Caltech/A. Kashlinsky (GSFC) / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Elementary Particle Theory Lab): “String-interaction” Anna.g / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Universe Group (Yukawa Institute) Lab): “Subaru Telescope (840A5789-CC)” International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Nuclear Theory Lab): “Shape of nuclear shell” A2569875 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Stellar Physics Lab): “Okayama observatory (Kyoto University)” GeeKay / Public domain (cropped)
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