【Nobel Week, Day 6】 Professor Kajita Delivers His Nobel Lecture

Date of activity: December 8, 2015

Professor Kajita delivered his Nobel Lecture (a commemorative lecture given by Nobel Prize recipients), "Discovery of Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillations," at 9 AM today in the Aula Magna, Stockholm University's auditorium. Before the Lecture, Professor Anne L'Huillier of Sweden's Lund University, the chairwoman of the Nobel Committee for Physics, spoke briefly about Professor Kajita's background and the reason he was awarded the Nobel Prize. Scores of people gathered at the entrance of the Aula Magna in anticipation of attending Professor Kajita's Lecture, and there was standing room only in the auditorium.

In his Lecture, Professor Kajita spoke about how the experiments at Kamiokande began with just a small team of researchers and how he participated in these experiments as a student, recounting the events leading up to the discovery that the number of a certain kind of neutrino observed in the experiments, the muon neutrino, was smaller than what the researchers had expected. He said that the reason for this smaller number was later determined in the Super-Kamiokande experiments, which revealed that neutrinos change their type as they move through space (a phenomenon called neutrino oscillation). The professor also talked about future experiments and research to be conducted at the Super-Kamiokande facility.

In the afternoon, Professor Kajita went to a celebratory reception and press conference held by the Embassy of Japan in Sweden alongside Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipient Kitasato University Professor Emeritus Satoshi Omura. At the press conference, Professor Kajita stated that "I'm somewhat relieved that the Nobel Lecture is done now," and that he wants to enjoy what he considers to be the main event, the Nobel Award Ceremony. He also said that while taking part in the Ceremony, he would like to keep in mind his mentors who helped him make it to this point: Honorary Professor Emeritus Masatoshi Koshiba, the late Professor Yoji Totsuka, and Professor Atsuto Suzuki.

Meanwhile, Professor Omura recalled how his mentor, Professor Teruhisa Noguchi, had told him to carry out his research with the aim of someday going to Stockholm. He expressed profound emotion at having been able to accomplish that today.

The Nobel Prize winners and their guests then attended the Nobel Concert held at the Stockholm Concert Hall in the evening, taking in a live performance by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

<Related Links>
Professor Kajita's presentation slides used in his Nobel Lecture, "Discovery of Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillations" (PDF)
Aula Magna
Stockholm Concert Hall

*【Nobel Week】 is a special series of reports given during the Nobel Week.
*You can read articles about the other Nobel Week activites here: http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/general/nobel_index.html