19th Yukawa-Kimura Prize Winner

　Yukawa-Kimura prize of 2025 is sent to Dr. Yuya Tanizaki of Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University.

Dr. Yuya Tanizaki(Assistant Professor, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics)

For his research on "Applications of topology and quantum anomaly to quantum field theories"

Citation

Understanding the low-energy dynamics of gauge theories has long been one of the central challenges in theoretical physics. Dr. Tanizaki has made a series of highly original contributions to this problem by applying modern perspectives based on discrete symmetries and the associated ’t Hooft anomalies.

In the papers [1-3], which were the main focus of the selection process, he investigated the effects of spacetime compactification on the low-energy behavior of gauge theories. In Ref. [1], he systematically constructed a general method to implement twisted boundary conditions that preserve the information of the ’t Hooft anomaly, in contrast to conventional periodic boundary conditions that erase it. This work significantly broadened the applicability of anomaly matching in gauge theories.

In Ref. [2], he performed a semiclassical analysis of the Yang-Mills dynamics under spacetime compactification by exploiting asymptotic freedom. While such an approach had been considered before, a naive one-dimensional compactification corresponds to finite temperature and fails to capture the low-energy physics. Dr. Tanizaki demonstrated that a two-dimensional compactification with twisted boundary conditions resolves this difficulty consistently, and that the topological vortex strings appearing in the semiclassical picture account for quark confinement and the nontrivial periodicity of the vacuum energy. Ref. [3] further clarified that this two-dimensional compactified picture connects smoothly to the monopole-condensation picture of confinement in one-dimensional compactification. These studies provide a powerful theoretical complement to the conventional lattice-based numerical approaches to gauge dynamics.

A particularly remarkable feature of Dr. Tanizaki’s research is its exceptionally high level of internal consistency, reflecting his profound understanding of quantum field theory. One prominent example is Ref. [4], in which he discovered a new ’t Hooft anomaly in massless QCD and demonstrated anomaly matching realized by Skyrmions. This result offers a powerful theoretical tool that rules out certain patterns of chiral symmetry breaking in massless QCD.

His earlier works [5, 6], which investigated ’t Hooft anomalies and global inconsistencies in quantum systems, also represent pioneering contributions that anticipated subsequent rapid developments in this area.

Beyond these achievements, Dr. Tanizaki has made important contributions across a wide range of topics in theoretical physics. His deep insights and creativity continue to play a leading role in advancing our understanding of gauge theories and quantum field theory. For these reasons, Dr. Yuta Tanizaki is deemed highly deserving of the Yukawa-Kimura Prize.

• [1] Y. Tanizaki, T. Misumi and N. Sakai, "Circle compactification and 't Hooft anomaly," JHEP 12, 056 (2017).
• [2] Y. Tanizaki and M. Unsal, "Center vortex and confinement in Yang-Mills theory and QCD with anomaly-preserving compactifications," PTEP 2022, no.4, 04A108 (2022).
• [3] Y. Hayashi and Y. Tanizaki, Unifying Monopole and Center Vortex as the Semiclassical Confinement Mechanism," Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, no.17, 171902 (2024).
• [4] Y. Tanizaki, "Anomaly constraint on massless QCD and the role of Skyrmions in chiral symmetry breaking," JHEP 08, 171 (2018).
• [5] Y. Tanizaki and Y. Kikuchi, "Vacuum structure of bifundamental gauge theories at finite topological angles," JHEP 06, 102 (2017).
• [6] Y. Kikuchi and Y. Tanizaki, "Global inconsistency, 't Hooft anomaly, and level crossing in quantum mechanics," PTEP 2017, no.11, 113B05 (2017).