Kenji Ohmori

Kenji Ohmori (大森 賢治) is a Japanese physicist and chemist. National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Japan (NIMS), Institute for Molecular Science (IMS)

Education and career

 * 1987 Graduated from Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
 * 1992 Ph. D, The University of Tokyo
 * 1992 Research Associate, Tohoku University
 * 2001 Associate Professor, Tohoku University
 * 2003 Full Professor, IMS
 * 2007–2010 Director, Laser Research Center for Molecular Science, IMS
 * 2010–present Chairman, Department of Photo-Molecular Science, IMS
 * 2004–2005 Visiting Professor, Tohoku University
 * 2007–2008 Visiting Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology
 * 2009–2011 Visiting Professor, The University of Tokyo
 * 2014–2016 Visiting Professor, University of Strasbourg
 * 2012–present Visiting Professor(Humboldt Awardee), University of Heidelberg

Research
Kenji Ohmori has succeeded in designing and visualizing spatiotemporal images given by the interference of matter waves of atoms in a molecule with picometer and femtosecond resolution [1,2]. The precision of this processing is the highest to date, higher than that of the current nanotechnology by three orders of magnitudes. This ultrahigh-precision processing has been implemented with the temporal oscillations of laser electric fields engineered with attosecond precision and imprinted on the matter waves of atoms and electrons in a molecule. He has utilized this technique to develop a molecular computer in which a single 0.3-nanometer-size molecule can calculate 1000 times faster than the current fastest supercomputer [3,4]. He has also developed an ultrafast quantum simulator that can simulate non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum many-body systems in one nanosecond, introducing a novel concept where he has combined his ultrafast coherent control with attosecond precision and ultracold atoms cooled down to temperatures close to absolute zero[5].

Honors and awards

 * 1998　Award by Research Foundation for Opto-Science and Technology
 * 2007　JSPS Prize
 * 2007　Japan Academy Medal
 * 2008　Norman Hascoe Distinguished Lecturer, University of Connecticut, USA
 * 2009　Fellow of the American Physical Society
 * 2012　Humboldt Prize
 * 2017　Matsuo Foundation Hiroshi Takuma Memorial Prize
 * 2018　Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan
 * 2021　National Medal with Purple Ribbon