YAMAKAWA Shiro
Project Manager, JDRS Project team, Space Technology Directorate I, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Themes: LASERs in Space : LASER utilization in space programs and recent topics on the optical data relay satellite in JAXA.
Plenary Session
Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Abstract
Laser technology and the outer-space exploration activities were born at almost the same time. Since then, space exploration and development have been supported by the fruits of advancement in laser science and technologies.
In this presentation, the author briefly introduces several programs and activities which utilize LASER technologies in Japanese national space agency, JAXA. And as one of the significant achievements of JAXA’s laser related satellite development programs, in-orbit demonstrations of the optical data-relay satellite system (LUCAS) are reported. 1.8Gbps free space laser communication links are successfully established between two satellites which are located about 42,000 km apart and high resolution remote-sensing data acquired by one satellite is downlinked through the other satellite, i.e. the optical data relay satellite, rapidly. The free space laser communication technology established through the development of LUCAS is expected to contribute to advance in high-rate space communication network.
Biography
Shiro Yamakawa was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1969. He received the B.S., M.S., and Ph. D. degrees from Keio University in 1992, 1994, 1998, respectively. From 1997, He has worked for National Space Development Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, where he conducted research and development in the field of satellite and its applications. Now he is the project manager of JAXA’s JDRS project team.
Kenji Ohmori
Institute for Molecular Science (IMS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Japan
Themes: Ultrafast Quantum Simulation and Quantum Computing with Ultracold Atom Arrays at Quantum Speed Limit
Abstract
Many-body correlations drive a variety of important quantum phenomena and quantum machines including superconductivity and magnetism in condensed matter as well as quantum computers. Understanding and controlling quantum many-body correlations is thus one of the central goals of modern science and technology. My research group has recently pioneered a novel pathway towards this goal with nearby ultracold atoms excited with an ultrashort laser pulse to a Rydberg state far beyond the Rydberg blockade regime.
Biography
Kenji Ohmori is a Chair Professor at the Institute for Molecular Science (IMS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Japan. After receiving his Ph.D. from The University of Tokyo in 1992, he was a Research Associate and an Associate Professor at Tohoku University. In 2003 he was appointed a Full Professor at IMS. Professor Ohmori is currently leading large-scale / long-term national projects on the development of ultrafast quantum simulators and quantum computers (2018-2030) generously supported with priority by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Cabinet Office of the government of Japan, expected as one of the front runners in quantum technologies.He has been celebrated with many honors. Highlights include the Japan Academy Medal (2007), Fellow of the American Physical Society (2009), Humboldt Research Award from the government of Germany (2012), Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of MEXT (2018), and the Medal with Purple Ribbon by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan for his achievements on quantum physics (2021). The Medal with Purple Ribbon is awarded for inventions and discoveries in science and technology, and for outstanding achievements in the fields of science, sports, art and culture.He is currently serving as the Chair of the Committee for Quantum Science and Technology Policy, MEXT, Japan since 2023, after serving as the Vice Chair of the same committee from 2015-2022. It was officially announced in February 2024 that Professor Ohmori and his team established the “Commercialization Preparatory Platform” for their “cold (neutral) atom” quantum computer:
where 13 topnotch industries have joined, including Development Bank of Japan Inc., Hitachi, Ltd., Fujitsu Limited, NEC Corporation, and Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. The relevant start-up company will be launched within the Japanese Fiscal Year 2024.
R. J. Dwayne Miller
Departments of Chemistry and Physics, University of Toronto, Canada
Themes: What is Life? Towards Imaging the Molecular Machinery of the Cell
Abstract
The posed quintessential question is not cast as an origins of life issue here but rather directed towards understanding the underlying physics by which chemistry breathes life into otherwise inanimate matter. The real issue is how chemistry scales in complexity up to the level of biological systems. For even relatively small molecules (e.g., 10 to 100 atoms), there are an enormous number of possible nuclear configurations that could propagate the system from one molecular form to another during a chemical event.
Biography
R. J. Dwayne Miller has published over 300 papers, notably contributions leading to the development of ultrabright electron sources to light up atomic motions. His group were the first to achieve the long-held goal to watch atomic motions during the defining moments of chemistry and have attained the fundamental space-time limit to imaging chemistry. His research accomplishments have been recognized with numerous awards including the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award (USA), Sloan Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellow, Dreyfus Award, Polanyi Award, Royal Society of Canada (RSC) Rutherford Medal, Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) Medal, American Chemical Society (ACS) E. Bright Wilson Award, and most recently the European Physical Society (EPS) Award in Laser Science for “Achieving the Fundamental Limit to Min. Invasive Surgery with Complete Biodiagnostics”. The enabling physics came from the first atomic movies on strongly driven phase transitions to determine the parameters for completely uniform forces for material removal without shock wave formation. These latter concepts are now going to clinical trials with the promise of enabling scar free surgery with broad medical applications. He is also a strong advocate for science promotion earning the RSC McNeil Medal (2011) and the Helen M. Free Award of the ACS for founding Science Rendezvous, now in its 18th year, aimed to make science accessible to the general public, including remote northern communities, with over 200,000 attendees (preCOVID) and >6000 volunteers annually. He is a Fellow of the CIC, OSA, RSC, RSC (Chemistry, UK) and was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2023. He will receive the 2025 Earl K Plyler Prize For Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics from the American Physical Society (APS) for his work on imaging atomic motions, capturing chemistry in action.