This year, Japan was rejoiced by the news 4 Japanese
scientists were awarded Nobel prizes.--1 Nobel prize
in chemistry and 3 Nobel prizes in physics.
Among those 3 Nobel prizers was Prof.NAMBU
Yoichiro, professor of physics at the University of
Chicago, whose theory of spontaneous broken symmetry
is now regarded as a milestone in physics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoichiro_Nambu
(URL about prof.Nambu)
While other 2 Japanese physicists and chemist who
were awarded Nobel Prizes 2008 attended the award
ceremony at Stockholm with their families, Prof Nambu,
the eldest of these 4 Japanese Nobel Prizers 2008,
did not attend the ceremony in Stockholm due to
the health problem of his wife and received the
Nobel Prize in Chicago, where he lives with his wife.
Hearing the news about Prof.Nambu, who is now one of
the deans of the world's physics, I could not help
but be reminded of a certain person.
It was Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Oppenheimer
(URL about Oppenheimer)
His name--Robert Oppenheimer--is a name the Japanese
cannot forget since he, Oppenheimer, was, as everyone
knows, very the physicist who developed the two atomic
bombs released over the citizens of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
The reason why I was reminded of him--Oppenheimer,
however, must be told here since most of you may be
unaware of the relation between Oppenheimer and
this years's Nobel Prizes.
The reason I must explain is that Oppenheimer was
very the man who wisely noticed the importance of the
theory of the spontaneous broken asymmetry by prof.Nambu
in his young days in Japan and invited prof.Nambu to
the United States with the advice of late Japanese
physicist prof.TOMONAGA Shin'ichiiro.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin-Itiro_Tomonaga
(URL about prof.Tomonaga)
When Nambu advocated his theory of spontaneous broken
symmetry in Japan, his idea did not attract other
physicists' attention both in Japan and the world.
However, to his geniousness, Oppenheimer noticed
the importance of this theory by a young Japanese
physicist and invited Nambu to the US to offer the
place of research.
So, we must remind ourselves that it was Oppenheimer
who understood the talent of the young Japanese
physicist and offered him chance to do researches in
the US which Nambu could hardly get in Japan and
that Oppenheimer was a hidden player behind this
year's Nobel Prize awarded to Nambu in a sense.
To remind ourselves what Oppenheimer's attitude
towards Japanese scientists after the war was,
I quote a very interesting memoir by a Japanese
scientist here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
After the war(after 1947), Oppenheimer became the director of the
Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, and stayed in the position
even after his purge. During the years he was the director of the
institute, Oppenheimer invited Dr.YUKAWA Hideki as a visiting professor
in the summer of 1948, and then Dr.TOMONAGA Shin'ichiro also as a
visiting professor in the next year, to his institute. Also from 1950
to 1952, Oppenheimer invited Dr.Yano Kentaro, who was famous for his
“nonholonomic principle of relativity”. Oppenheimer invited more
other Japanese scientists to his institute to offer them opportunities
of research. As the result, there were 7 Japanese mathmaticians and
3 other Japanese physicists studying at the Institute for Advanced
Study at Princeton around 1955.
Dr.TANNAKA Tadarou (professor of mathmatics at TOHOKU University then,
professor at TOHOKU-GAKUIN University today(1977)) has visited
Oppenheimer, when he arrived the institute to do reseach, in the
director room to say his greeting of arrival.
When he said
“Dr.Oppenheimer. I am Dr.TANNAKA from Japan”to him,
Oppenheimer replied“Dr.Tannaka, this institute is occupied by an elite
troop of Japanese army.”with his smile. Oppenheimer was thus deeply
pro-Japanese to say such joke at the time and supported invitation of
Japanese scientists. In addition, Oppenheimer contributed a lot to
the awards of Nobel Prizes of physics to Drs.Yukawa and Tomonaga.
--Oppenheimer payed attention to Dr.Yukawa's theory of meson and
pointed out that the meson had been detected in the observetion of
the cloud chamber of Dr.C･
･Anderson. He also supported Dr.Tomonaga's
paper to be published on the Physical Review to enable Dr.Tomonaga's
theory of so-called “renormalization”, which was a method to deal with
the difficulties of “quantum field theory”, to obtain international
attention by writing an introduction of Dr.Tomonaga. Wasn't Oppenheimer's
extraordinary favor to the Japanese scientists as such a reflection of
his regret of his role in the atomic bombing on Japan, about which he
blamed himself?
(from “Oppenheimer:Between Science and Demon”(Openheimer:Kagaku to
Demon no aida) by MURAYAMA Iwao, 1977, published by Taihei-shuppansha,
pp250-251, translated from Japanese by NISHIOKA Masanori)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I read this part of this book repeatedly.
Is this really Oppenheimer?--I wondered.
It was difficult for me to reconcile the image of him
who took the leadership of the totally unnecessary
atomic bombing on civiliands in the last phase of the
war with this memoir. I could even imagine the
face of him smiling to the newly arrived Japanese
mathmatician--Dr.Tannaka in the memoir above.
Scientist is a man. And a man is a paradox in
itself. A man has a demon and angel in itself.
Oppenheimer was not exceptional.
He did play a role of demon but he was a man of
warmth on the other hand as well.
While it remains a question what emotion
Oppenheimer had about the atomic bombing in
his mind after the war, there are many who
believe the reason Oppenheimer assisted many
Japanese scientists after the war, offering
them opportunities of research in the US
or supporting Japanese physicists to get
Nobel Prizes and so on, was at least partly
because he regretted his role in atomic bombing
on Japanese civilians.
I am one who shares this view.
Whatever the truth of this question is, I must
acknowledge Oppenheimer was a great scientist in
his foreseeing the importance of prof.Nambu's
new theory about half a century ago, which is in
contrast with the Nobel Prize Commission who needed
the same years--about half a century--to acknowledge
the importance of prof.Nambu's theory.
Nori
--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081212dy01.htm
Nobel winners enjoy ceremony
Tetsuro Yamada and Akemi Ari / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
STOCKHOLM--For the first time, three Japanese scientists participated in the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony.
At the ceremony, held Wednesday at Stockholm Concert Hall, 10 winners of the Nobel prize this year, including Makoto Kobayashi, 64, Toshihide Masukawa, 68, and Osamu Shimomura, 80, appeared from the center of the stage to a musical accompaniment from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.
A speech acknowledging the Japanese winners was given in Japanese for the first time in the Nobel Prize's history. The three received their shining medals and looked very emotional.
After the awards ceremony, Kobayashi, Masukawa and Shimomura moved to Stockholm City Hall to participate in the Nobel Banquet. About 1,300 people, including the prizewinners and the Swedish royal family, attended the banquet.
The three Japanese entered the Blue Hall of the building with King Carl XVI Gustaf, and took seats at the center of the main table. The hall was decorated with red flowers.
Queen Silvia sat next to Kobayashi, while Shimomura sat in the seat across from him. The three enjoyed a lively conversation. Crown Princess Victoria sat in front of Masukawa, who shies away from speaking English, and the conversation between the two did appear to be somewhat low-key.
The menu of the banquet is kept strictly secret every year until the day of the event. Participants were ultimately delighted by exquisite dishes of sole with local shellfish, veal fillet, dessert and carefully selected wines. A short dramatic performance featuring excerpts from a comic opera by Mozart took place during the meal.
The climax of the banquet came with the speeches given by the laureates. Kobayashi, representing the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics, made his speech on a stage set up on a staircase landing.
Kobayashi, speaking in English, said: "It's a pity that Prof. Yoichiro Nambu was not to attend this ceremony. I'm greatly honored to share the Nobel prize with him. When I entered graduate school, he was already an eminent scholar. I remember studying his theory most intently."
He then spoke about the violation of symmetry in particle physics (CP violation) that is his specialist field.
"CP violation is an intriguing subject. A fundamental question is why the universe is made of matter. CP violation holds the keys to solving this problem. In spite of more than 40 years of effort in theoretical and experimental studies, however, matter dominance of the universe still remains an open question. I hope to continue pursuing this subject with my colleagues," Kobayashi said.
The three declined to participate in the ball held after the dinner at the Golden Hall on the second floor of the building.
The three appeared relaxed after the events of the day. "Well, I'm relieved," Kobayashi said.
"It's all over," Masukawa said.
Family members of the three laureates also participated in the events. Masukawa's wife, Akiko, 65, gazed at her husband's Nobel Prize medal and diploma with a proud look on her face. The medals and diplomas were displayed in the Blue Hall so that all those attending could see them.
"I feel like a festival has just come to an end," she said.
(Dec. 12, 2008)
