Japanese physicist Sin-Itiro Tomonaga developed the theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED), which uses elements of quantum mechanics and special relativity to quantify the interactions between light and matter. In 1942 he proposed the covariant formulation in quantum field theory, but his work was not promptly published due to World War II. In 1955 he published his elementary theory of quantum mechanical collective motions. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1965, sharing the award with Richard Feynman and Julian Schwinger, who reached similar conclusions. Tomonaga's 1974 book Supin wa Meguru (The Story of Spin) recounts the history of nuclear physics, quantum field theory, quantum mechanics, and spin. He was a college classmate of another Nobel laureate, Hideki Yukawa.
[1] Esophageal cancer.
Father: Sanjuro Tomonaga (philosopher, b. 1871, d. 1951)
Mother: Hide Tomonaga
Wife: Ryoko Sekiguchi (m. 1940, two sons, one daughter)
Son: Atsushi
Son: Makoto
High School: Third Higher School, Kyoto, Japan
University: BS Physics, Kyoto Imperial University (1929)
Scholar: Physics, Kyoto Imperial University (1929-32)
Scholar: Physics, Rikagaku Kenkyō, Tokyo, Japan (1932-37)
Scholar: Physics, University of Leipzig (1937-39)
University: PhD Physics, Tokyo Imperial University (1939)
Professor: Physics, University of Tsukuba (1941-49)
Professor: Physics, University of Tokyo (1949-69)
Administrator: Institute for Nuclear Study, University of Tokyo (1955-56)
Administrator: President, University of Tsukuba (1956-62)
Administrator: Institute of Optical Research, University of Tokyo (1963-69)
Asahi Press Award 1946
The Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy 1948
Japanese Order of Culture 1952
Mikhail Lomonosov Gold Medal 1964
Nobel Prize for Physics 1965 (with Richard Feynman and Julian Schwinger)
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure 1976
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Foreign Member
Institute for Advanced Study (1949-55)
The Japan Academy 1951
National Academy of Sciences Foreign Associate
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Foreign Member
Science Council of Japan President (1963-69)
Author of books:
Quantum Mechanics (1949, physics)
Development of Quantum Electrodynamics: Personal Recollections (1966, physics)
The Story of Spin (1974, physics)
Sin-itiro Tomonaga: Life of a Japanese Physicist (1980, memoir)
AKA Shin’ichirō Tomonaga