At the Kavli IPMU, we study high energy emission from black holes, jets and super nova remnants, which are thought to be a huge particle accelerator in the universe, to elucidate the processes by which gravity, collisions, and stellar explosions energize those cosmic rays, We are working on constructing a semi-theoretical model which enables us to study spectra and special distribution of the X-ray and gamma-ray emission, more quantitatively, based on fundamental process expected at the extreme environment of the sources.
Current astronomy is in an era of multi-wavelength/multi-messenger astronomy by opening the observational windows in neutrinos and gravitational waves. However, there is one remaining closed window for observations of the sky. That is the MeV gamma-ray band. The MeV gamma-ray range is an intersection between thermal and non-thermal universe, and thus it is one of the most fundamental energy range in order to understand various phenomena in the universe. Currently, due to the lack of MeV gamma-ray sensitivity, we are still not able to unveil the nature of a lot of astrophysical phenomena. In order to make a breakthrough in this MeV gamma-ray band, we are improving the sensitivity of MeV gamma-ray telescopes using gamma-ray imaging technique. Moreover, we are also conducting research on various science cases in the MeV astronomy such as Sun, Supernovae, Neutron star mergers, Active galactic nuclei, Dark matter, and so on.
(Last update: 2018/06/06)