Department of Physics and Mathematics

The Department of Physics and Mathematics provides quality education in a wide range of disciplines, ranging from applied physics and its technology-related fields to pure mathematics. A wide variety of career opportunities can be found for graduates of physics and mathematics degree programs who benefit from the quantitative and analytical skills of mathematics and from an understanding of the fundamental law of nature behind science and technology.

Physics research areas of particular strength at Aoyama Gakuin University include condensed matter physics and astrophysics. Numerous novel superconducting materials such as MgB2 and the exotic ladder materials have been found by Professor J. Akimitsu and his group remains the leader in the field. Our campus is located near the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). World class astrophysicists at the department, Professors, A. Yoshida, A. Bamba and R. Yamazaki, emphasize close collaboration between theory and experiment, and explore an extensive variety of high-energy astrophysical phenomena, involving black holes, neutron stars, gamma-ray bursts and origin of cosmic rays and promote various space missions such as MAXI, Astro-H and CALET in international collaborations. The other strength of the department is also covering interdisciplinary physics research areas such as biophysics and atomic physics that relate to wide range of sciences.

Research topics in mathematics cover the entire field of the subject including theory of nonlinear systems, topology, representation theory and theory of special functions. Professors J. Satsuma and T. Masuda investigate nonlinear integrable systems such as soliton equations, Painlev'e equations and ultra-discrete systems, aiming to explain a variety of mathematical and physical phenomena. Topology is a powerful tool to analyze dynamical systems, which often exhibit complicated phenomena such as chaos, fractal and complex system. Professor Nakayama is one of the leading mathematicians in this field. Representation theory is used crucially in the field of differential equations, geometry, combinatorics and spectral analysis, which has been studied by Professors Nishiyama and Taniguchi.

Our undergraduate curriculum in Physics and Mathematics provides the student with a base of fundamental science and mathematics as well as specialization through a broad selection of technical electives. By taking advantage of joining mathematics and physics into a single department, students are able to seek teacher certification for middle and high school either Mathematics or Physics with extra specific requirements for teacher education.

From the first year to the second year, students take Seminars and Laboratory subjects, including computer programming in small groups as well substantial coursework including both physics and mathematics core curriculums shown in the table below.

In the third year, students are required to select one course from Mathematics Course, Physics Course and Applied Physics Course to complete the degree. Each focused course offers its specialized elective requirements designed for students to assist in their positive career explorations and to prepare for Senior Thesis Research during their senior year. The Senior Thesis Research is a physics or mathematics research project carried out under the guidance of a faculty member and the advanced research experience provides a great opportunity for students to discover their individual talents and to demonstrate practical skills and knowledge.