Tribute to Shin-ichiro Tomonaga Japanese physicist winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1965

Shinichiro Tomonga, born March 31, 1906, died on July 8, 1979 at age 73. Japanese physicist who shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1965 with Richard P. Feynman and Julian S. Schwinger of the U.S. for independently developing basic principles of quantum electrodynamics. He was one of the first to apply quantum theory to subatomic particles with very high energies. Tomonga began with an analysis of intermediate coupling the idea that interactions between two particles take place through the exchange of a third, virtual particle, like one ship affecting another by firing a cannonball. He used this concept to develop a quantum field theory, 1941-43, that was consistent with the theory of special relativity. WWII delayed news of his work. Meanwhile, Feynman and Schwinger published their own independent solutions. Tomonga was married in 1942 Ryoko Sekiguchi. They had two sons and one daughter. He was awarded the Order of Culture in 1952 and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun in 1976. In recognition of three Nobel laureates' contributions, the bronze statues of Shinichiro Tomonga, Leo Iseki, and Makoto Kobayashi was set up in the Central Park of Azuma-2 in Tsukuba City in 2015.