News

From March 13 to 14, 2025, Namikuma and Higuchi from our laboratory participated in the “Core-to-Core for Young Scientists” seminar held at the Yaesu Academic Commons in Tokyo.

This seminar served as a networking event for young researchers involved in various projects studying the cosmic microwave background (CMB). It provided an invaluable opportunity to exchange ideas not only with researchers from LiteBIRD but also with those engaged in other CMB polarization observation experiments.

During the seminar, Ikuma and Higuchi delivered oral presentations, sharing their research findings widely and receiving valuable feedback from many participants. In addition, the chance to explore the forefront of various CMB experiments and expand their professional networks proved to be a significant achievement.

We are pleased to announce that Yusuke Takase of our laboratory will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Science on March 4, 2025. Congratulations! His doctoral thesis is now available on arXiv.

Title:
Design of the full-sky scanning strategy and systematic effect control in a cosmic microwave background probe

Link:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.03176

As a first step towards promoting exchange and joint research with Okayama University of Science, a reception was held on 7 March. It also served as a farewell party for Dr. Eiichiro Komatsu and his wife, as it was the last Friday that she would be spending in Okayama.

Thank you, Dr. Komatsu, for the fruitful discussions over the past month!
When you come to Okayama again. We will introduce you to some good restaurants with good drinks and food (and interesting physics stories…) when you come to Okayama again!
We look forward to seeing you again at both Okayama University and Okayama University of Science 😆.

On March 6, a mini-workshop on astrophysics was held with Dr. Komatsu, Director of Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Prof. Yamauchi and Nagao (Okayama University of Science), and members of our laboratory.

Okayama University of Science introduced their research on inflation theory, physics of the 21cm line (emitted from hydrogen atoms), and dark matter search, while Okayama University introduced our research on LiteBIRD, removal of foregrounds, and development of neutrino detectors.

Dr. Komatsu, who is staying at our lab, gave a special lecture on cosmic birefringence, and the discussion on the new physics of parity violation heated up. We hope that the synergy between Okayama University of Science, where theoretical astrophysics research is flourishing, and our lab, which promotes experimental physics, will enliven astrophysics in Okayama.

Prof. Shaul Hanany from the University of Minnesota visited our lab. on February 18-19.
Prof. Tomotake Matsumura and Dr. Guillaume Patanchon (Associate Professor at University of Paris-cite) from Kavli IPMU, University of Tokyo, and Dr. Keisuke Yoshihara, Project Manager of LiteBIRD from JAXA visited us at the same time. We had very heated discussions.

Prof. Hanany is the PI of PICO, the next generation CMB polarimetry satellite proposed to NASA, and we exchanged information and discussed scientific synergies in terms of the LiteBIRD project.

From our lab., Yusuke explained the differences in scanning strategies between LiteBIRD and PICO, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each, and we had a very fruitful exchange of views.

At the social event, we were served with Okayama’s specialty, Spanish mackerel and yellow chives, which were very well received!

On February 12-13, the doctoral and master’s thesis review meetings were held, and Yusuke (D3), Kiyoshi (M2), and Ryuji (M2) from our laboratory gave presentations. I think all of them were able to show their abilities gained from their research during their doctoral and master’s periods.

The recent (1/7) press release by Y. Takase et al. titled “How to Capture the Image of the Universe Immediately after its Birth through Satellite Observations” was published in the January 14, 2025 edition of the Nikkan Kogyo Shinbun (25 Science, Technology & University).

Link to the Article ：岡山大など、誕生時の宇宙の姿観測　測定誤差を最小化する新手法

The Nikkan Kogyo Shinbun, including back numbers, is available at the Okayama University Library.
Okayama University students and the general public are welcome to enter the library.
For details, please visit the library’s website.