WPI-QUP and TRIUMF, Canada's particle accelerator center, have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to strengthen research collaboration between the two institutions.

Last year, WPI-QUP welcomed Dr. Makoto Fujiwara, a Senior Research Scientist at TRIUMF, as a QUP Principal Researcher. Under his leadership, research on the gravitational behavior of antimatter has become a major project within QUP's Gravity pillar, one of the center's three research pillars. The newly signed LoI marks an important step toward further strengthening the partnership between the two institutions.

Dr. Fujiwara's research investigates how gravity acts on antihydrogen, the antimatter counterpart of hydrogen, and seeks to determine whether matter and antimatter obey the same laws of physics. He has made important contributions to experiments measuring the energy levels of antihydrogen and investigating how it falls under the influence of gravity. At QUP, the research group aims to achieve increasingly precise measurements of antihydrogen and its interaction with gravity by developing new experimental techniques, including those that harness KEK's high-intensity laser technology. These efforts could provide important clues to one of the most profound mysteries in modern physics: why the universe today contains overwhelmingly more matter than antimatter.

The signing ceremony took place following the 7th KEK-TRIUMF Scientific Symposium, held at TRIUMF on September 28–29, 2026, during a meeting of the directors of the two institutions. QUP Director Toshiyuki Azuma and Dr. Fujiwara also attended the meeting. The LoI was signed by four representatives: KEK Director General Shoji Asai, QUP Director Toshiyuki Azuma, TRIUMF Director Nigel Smith, and TRIUMF Director of Physical Sciences Takamasa Kanungo.

Commenting on the collaboration, QUP Director Toshiyuki Azuma expressed his enthusiasm for the opportunities it will bring:
"We hope to combine TRIUMF's extensive expertise in antimatter research with QUP and KEK's advanced laser and precision measurement technologies, opening up new possibilities in the quest for new physics."

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The 7th TRIUMF-KEK Scientific Symposium Held at TRIUMF:
https://www.kek.jp/en/topics/202610281200