Dr. Atsuto Suzuki, president of Iwate Prefectural University, presented at the Ichinoseki Cultural Hall on Friday, September 2, in front of some 900 students from Ichinoseki Daiichi Senior High School and its affiliated Junior High School.
Organized by both schools and the International Economic Policy Investigation Committee, Dr. Suzuki presented with a title of “Searching for the origins of matter and the universe,” and talked about neutrinos – a type of elementary particle – and the basics of elementary particle physics.
Dr. Suzuki said that the forefront of elementary particle research equated to the forefront of research about the universe, and spoke about the history of elementary particle research both in Japan and abroad, and about the “Super-Kamiokande” underground neutrino observatory (in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan.)
With regard to elementary particle research using large-scale accelerators, Dr. Suzuki said: “Scientists around the world are furthering their research via CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland, or via Japan, and that these two countries are the centers for the research.
Concerning neutrinos, he said: “neutrinos exhibit the weakest interaction with matter among elementary particles” and “they are able to pass through various objects,” explaining that scientists are using neutrino physics as a means to determine the origins of elementary particles and how the universe is made.
Kaito Ando, a second-grade student at Ichinoseki Daiichi Senior High, said: “I understood details about the make-up of elementary particles, and want to continue learning about elementary particle physics and the International Linear Collider.”
Pictures and translation on Ichinoseki and the ILC (Facebook)