Young Faculty / 056

Associate Professor Haruki Watanabe, Department of Applied Physics, Watanabe group

<Biography>

Mar. 2010: B.A. Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo
Mar. 2012: M.S. Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo
May 2015: Ph.D. Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley
Jul. 2015 – Jan. 2016: Pappalardo Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Feb. 2016 – Dec. 2018: Lecturer, Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo
Apr. 2017 – Mar. 2019: The University of Tokyo Excellent Young Researcher
Oct. 2018 – JST PRESTO researcher
Jan. 2019 – Associate Professor, Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo

<About the Research>
My research focuses on the materials that surround us, such as metals, insulators, and magnets. I am performing theoretical calculations everyday trying to establish a universal physical laws that govern these materials and to predict new phenomena that no one has ever predicted. 
The number of particles that make up matter is enormous. As a result of their interactions, interesting phenomena such as "spontaneous symmetry breaking" occur, and the possibility of a new science fiction-like phenomenon called "time crystals" arises. In recent years, a new class of materials called "topological insulators" has been actively studied around the world. Our goal is to elucidate the general physical laws underlying these diverse phenomena and to develop our understanding of nature from the ground up.


<Future aspirations>
Recently, we theoretically proposed that the NaCl, the simplest ionic crystal, actually has a fractional charge at corners with the value of 1/8 of the elementary charge e. We will continue to deepen our unified understanding and predict new phenomena based on it.

<WEB>
Lab : https://sites.google.com/view/watanabegroup/english