Hideki Yukawa

Hideki Yukawa was a Japanese theoretical physicist who predicted the existence of mesons in 1935 to explain the force binding atomic nuclei. He received the 1949 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Sakurō Tomonaga: A Japanese theoretical physicist who developed quantum electrodynamics and shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics. Tomonaga was Yukawa’s contemporary and a fellow leader of Japan’s prewar theoretical physics community.
Yukawa potential: A short-range potential whose exponential decay describes interactions mediated by a massive field. Yukawa used this form to model the force between nucleons.
Nuclear binding energy: The energy required to separate an atomic nucleus into its constituent protons and neutrons. The existence of strongly bound nuclei demanded an interaction stronger and shorter-ranged than electromagnetism.
Discovery of the pion: The identification of the pion in cosmic-ray experiments in 1947. The pion’s discovery supplied strong evidence for the kind of particle Yukawa had predicted.
Sin-Itiro Tomonaga: A Japanese theoretical physicist who developed quantum electrodynamics and shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics. Tomonaga is another name used for Sakurō Tomonaga, a close scientific contemporary of Yukawa.
Meson: A hadron composed of a quark and an antiquark. Yukawa proposed a particle with an intermediate mass to carry nuclear force.
Proton–neutron model: A model of nuclei as systems built from protons and neutrons. The model made the force between these two nucleons a central theoretical problem.
Cecil Powell: A British physicist who developed photographic methods for studying cosmic rays and won the 1950 Nobel Prize in Physics. Powell’s group identified the pion in photographic emulsions, confirming a key part of Yukawa’s prediction.
Hideki Yukawa Memorial Hall: A museum and archive in Kyoto dedicated to the life and work of Hideki Yukawa. The hall preserves Yukawa’s papers and connects his career to Kyoto’s scientific history.
Pion: The lightest meson, occurring as positively charged, negatively charged, and neutral particles. The pion’s mass and interactions made it the particle most closely matching Yukawa’s prediction.

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