Yasuo Fukui

Professor Emeritus
Director, NANTEN Sub-mm Observatory
Nagoya University

fukui@a.phys.nagoya-u. ac.jp

PhD The University of Tokyo (1979)

Awards and honors
　1987 Vainu Bappu Memorial Gold Medal
　1991 Inoue Science Award
　1994 The minor planet 7890 Yasuofukui
　2001 Chunichi Cultural Award
　2003 Hayashi Chushiro Award
　2007 Purple Ribbon Medal

Research interests

My interest lies in understanding the origin of stars. The universe consists of galaxies, which are ensembles of stars. We cannot understand the universe without understanding star formation. Stars are formed by the contraction of hydrogen gas, a process which is not yet well-understood. Therefore, understanding the properties of hydrogen gas and its contraction process is essential. For this purpose, I have been working on observing molecular hydrogen clouds, in which stars are formed, using the NANTEN2 submillimeter telescope located at an altitude of 5000 m in the Atacama Desert in Chile.

Currently, my interest resides specifically in the origin of high-mass stars with 10 to 300 solar masses. Such high-mass stars supply various heavy elements, such as carbon and iron, to the universe through supernova explosions at the end of their lives. These stars also create beautiful nebulae, such as the Orion nebula. My recent study revealed that collisions between interstellar clouds are an important process for high-mass star formation. The cloud-cloud collisions enable rapid and strong gas compression as an essential process of high mass star formation. My current aim is to develop this study further by including the formation of massive stellar clusters such as globular clusters.

A supernova itself is another interesting object in the universe. Supernovae have attracted considerable interest as accelerators of high-energy cosmic rays in the Milky Way. Our research, conducted since 2003, has revealed that cosmic rays are accelerated in γ-ray supernova remnants. I expect that this research will expand further with the help of new-generation γ-ray telescopes.

If we turn our attention to extragalactic space, we can recognize that galaxies collide with each other to form massive clusters. Our current focus regarding these interacting galaxies is on Magellanic Clouds, the Antennae Galaxies, etc. This research will be extended to more distant galaxies, as there is a vast space full of interacting galaxies. I believe that the fundamental physics involved were common in the early days of the universe.

Updated in November 2024