Takaaki Kajita contributed to the Super-Kamiokande observation of atmospheric neutrino oscillations. Muon neutrinos arriving from below had crossed a much longer path through the Earth than those produced overhead. The direction-dependent deficit therefore tested propagation, while comparisons with electron-like events helped constrain possible production or detector explanations. The 1998 report found the pattern consistent with conversion between muon neutrinos and tau neutrinos.[ref]
Evidence for oscillation of atmospheric neutrinos by Y. Fukuda and others. 1998 abstract and zenith-angle analysis; oscillation interpretation and checks on flux/detector uncertainties
A physicist researching atmospheric neutrinos and neutrino oscillations.[ref]
ICRR’s Takaaki Kajita to share Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics by Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo. Independent professional identity
Portrait of Takaaki Kajita
. Holger Motzkau. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Source.
Takaaki Kajita is a Japanese physicist known for his significant contributions to the field of particle physics and, in particular, for his work on neutrinos. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2015, jointly with Arthur B. McDonald, for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which showed that neutrinos have mass. This discovery has important implications for our understanding of the universe, as it challenges the previously held notion that neutrinos were massless particles.
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