The search for the origins of planetary systems

Professor Takafumi Matsui is one of the pioneers of planetary origin research and the proposer of famous theoretical models on planetary formation. He has spent years building the knowledge base on the evolution of planets. His research involves addressing the gaps in theories about the origins of the solar system, the Earth and life that existed due to lack of experimental data to construct reliable theoretical models in the past and to enable the measurement of hypervelocity impacts on planets. He has studied the physical and chemical processes progressed in impact-generated vapour plumes. This work has involved undertaking experimental work using a high powered laser, including using mass spectroscopic observations of sulphur chemistry in laser-simulated impact vapour clouds as well as laser ablation experiments in redox-neutral gas mixtures using graphite to assess the fate of cyanide radicals produced by the oblique impacts. His latest work explores a hypothesis connected to the Panspermia and how this relates to the origin of life on Earth through investigating the material flux across the Earth's atmosphere. This work is contributing to the body of knowledge about the past, present and future events in the solar system with the ground truth, including recovered samples and remote sensing data obtained by planetary explorations.