Chushiro Hayashi

Chūshirō Hayashi
Born(1920-07-25)July 25, 1920
Kyoto, Japan
DiedFebruary 28, 2010(2010-02-28) (aged 89)
Kyoto, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Alma materUniversity of Tokyo
AwardsEddington Medal in 1970
Kyoto Prize in 1995
Bruce Medal in 2004
Scientific career
Fieldsastrophysics
InstitutionsKyoto University
Doctoral advisorHideki Yukawa
Doctoral studentsKatsuhiko Sato

Chushiro Hayashi (林 忠四郎, Hayashi Chūshirō, July 25, 1920 – February 28, 2010) was a Japanese astrophysicist. Hayashi tracks on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram are named after him.

Hayashi was born in Kyoto and enrolled at the Imperial University of Tokyo in 1940, earning his BSc in Physics after 2½ years, in 1942. He was conscripted into the navy[1] and, after the war ended, joined the group of Hideki Yukawa at Kyoto University. He was appointed a professor at Kyoto University in 1957.[1]

He made additions to the Big Bang nucleosynthesis model that built upon the work of the classic Alpher–Bethe–Gamow paper.[2] Probably his most famous work was the astrophysical calculations that led to the Hayashi tracks of star formation,[3] and the Hayashi limit that puts a limit on star radius. He was also involved in the early study of brown dwarfs, some of the smallest stars formed.[4]

He retired in 1984 and died from pneumonia at a Kyoto hospital on February 28, 2010.[5][6]

  1. ^ a b Nakagawa, Y. (2011), "Obituary: Chushiro Hayashi (1920-2010)", Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 43: 014, Bibcode:2011BAAS...43..014N, doi:10.3847/BAASOBIT2011014
  2. ^ Hayashi, Chushiro (1961). "Proton-neutron concentration ratio in the expanding Universe at the stages preceding the formation of the elements". Progress of Theoretical Physics. 5 (2): 224–235. doi:10.1143/PTP.5.224.
  3. ^ Hayashi, Chushiro (1961). "Stellar evolution in early phases of gravitational contraction". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 13: 450–452. Bibcode:1961PASJ...13..450H.
  4. ^ Hayashi, Chushiro; Nakano, T. (1963). "Evolution of Stars of Small Masses in the Pre-Main-Sequence Stages". Progress of Theoretical Physics. 30 (4): 460–474. Bibcode:1963PThPh..30..460H. doi:10.1143/PTP.30.460.
  5. ^ Sugimoto, Daiichiro (2010). "Chushiro Hayashi 1920–2010". Astronomy & Geophysics. 51 (3): 3.36. Bibcode:2010A&G....51c..36S. doi:10.1111/j.1468-4004.2010.51336.x.
  6. ^ "Award-winning Japanese astrophysicist Hayashi dies at 89". Kyodo News. March 1, 2010. Retrieved March 1, 2010.[permanent dead link]