physics

Fusa Miyake

Fusa Miyake is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Fusa Miyake rather than just read about it. In short: Fusa Miyake (born 1987) is a cosmic ray physicist at Nagoya University, Japan, whose work measuring isotope abundances led to recognition of so-called Miyake events. These have resulted in reconciling differences between dates from documents and materials such as ice-cores and tree rings.

Key takeaways

Fusa Miyake belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Fusa Miyake to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Fusa Miyake from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Fusa Miyake (born 1987) is a cosmic ray physicist at Nagoya University, Japan, whose work measuring isotope abundances led to recognition of so-called Miyake events. These have resulted in reconciling differences between dates from documents and materials such as ice-cores and tree rings.

Scientific career Fusa Miyake gained her doctorate from Nagoya University in 2013 and was then appointed as an assistant professor. In 2017 she was promoted to associate professor in the Division for Cosmic Ray Research within the Space-Earth Environmental Research Division. Her doctoral research identified events in the wood of long-lived Japanese cedar trees, now called Miyake events, where there are sudden increases in cosmogenic isotopes such as radioactive carbon isotope 14C, 10Be and 36Cl produced by cosmic rays originating from the Sun when large solar flares or eruptions occur. These isotopes can be detected in materials such as tree-rings and ice cores. Although the event was initially proposed to be a signature of an unidentified supernova, it was soon proven to be the discovery of an extreme solar particle event and confirmed independently. As an example, measurements can utilised the carbon in the polymer cellulose extracted from tree-rings formed in individual years to measure abundance of the isotope 14C using accelerator mass spectrometry. Measuring these isotopes in materials that have been independently dated allow the events to be dated with precision. This gives information about the Sun's long-term activity. She identified an event in 775 during her doctoral work, and along with colleagues, has subsequently identified events centred on 993-4 and also 660 and 5480 BCE. By 2023, 6 Miyake events had been identified. Her subsequent research with worldwide collaborators, and that of other researchers, has suggested that the source of the radiation causing Miyake events is more complicated than from single solar events. Some may be from multiple solar flares, influenced by tree physiology or by interactions of high energy particles with the Earth's magnetic field.

Publications Miyake is the author or coauthor of over 50 scientific publications and books. These include:

Ilya G. Usoskin, Fusa Miyake, Mélanie Baroni and 17 others (2023) Extreme Solar Events: Setting up a Paradigm. Space Science Reviews 219 pp73 P.J. Reimer, W.E.N, E. Bard ... F. Miyake ... and 38 others (2020) The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55 cal kBP). Radiocarbon 62 pp 725–757 A. Scifo, M. Kuitems, A. Neocleous ... F. Miyake and 6 others (2019) Radiocarbon Production Events and their Potential Relationship with the Schwabe Cycle. Scientific Reports 9 17056 Fusa Miyake, Ilya Usoskin and Stepan Poluianov (2019) Extreme Solar Particle Storms: The hostile Sun Institute of Physics Publishing, pp 447. ISBN 9780750322300 Fusa Miyake, A.J. Timothy Jull, Irina P. Panyushkina and 7 others (2017) Large 14C excursion in 5480 BC indicates an abnormal sun in the mid-Holocene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.) 114 pp 881–884 F. Miyake, K. Nagaya, K. Masuda and T. Nakamura (2012) A signature of cosmic-ray increase in AD 774–775 from tree rings in Japan. Nature 486 pp 240 –242

Awards In 2017 Miyake received a Commendation Award for Young Scientists from the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In 2022 she received the José A. Boninsegna Frontiers in Dendrochronology Award from the Tree-Ring Society.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Fusa Miyake

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Fusa Miyake claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Fusa Miyake before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Fusa Miyake ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Fusa Miyake

In research: Fusa Miyake appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Fusa Miyake in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Fusa Miyake is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century Japanese women scientists, Japanese physicists, Living people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Fusa Miyake outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Fusa Miyake in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Fusa Miyake means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Fusa Miyake out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Fusa Miyake in simple terms?

Why does Fusa Miyake matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Fusa Miyake?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Fusa Miyake.