Koshiba, Masatoshi, 1926–2020, Japanese physicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Rochester, 1955. He was a professor at the Univ. of Tokyo from 1958 (emeritus from 1987) and at the Univ. of Tokai from 1987 to 1997. Koshiba received the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics with Riccardo Giacconi and Raymond Davis for pioneering contributions to astrophysics. Koshiba and Davis detected cosmic neutrinos, the most elusive particles in the universe. Koshiba did his research at Japan's giant underground Kamiokande neutrino detector, which he devised. He confirmed Davis's results and also detected neutrinos from a supernova. Their work led to a new field of research known as neutrino astronomy, which is important to particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology.
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