physics

Jaw-Shen Tsai

Jaw-Shen Tsai 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 Jaw-Shen Tsai rather than just read about it. In short: Jaw-Shen Tsai (Chinese: 蔡兆申; born February 8, 1952) is a Taiwan-born American physicist specializing in low-temperature solid-state physics. Educated in the United States, he has pursued most of his research career in Japan.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Jaw-Shen Tsai (Chinese: 蔡兆申; born February 8, 1952) is a Taiwan-born American physicist specializing in low-temperature solid-state physics. Educated in the United States, he has pursued most of his research career in Japan. He is known for pioneering research on superconducting qubits and their quantum control. In 1999, Tsai and his colleagues achieved the first realization of a superconducting charge qubit. In 2000, he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is a professor at the Tokyo University of Science, a team leader at RIKEN's Center for Quantum Computing, and a chair professor at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University.

Early life and education Tsai was born in Taipei, Taiwan, on February 8, 1952. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in physics and earned his PhD in physics in 1983 from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Career His principal appointments have included:

1983–1985: Research Scientist, Microelectronics Research Laboratories, NEC 2001–2007: Fellow, Fundamental Research Laboratories, NEC 2007–2014: Fellow, Nano Electronics Research Laboratories, NEC 2001–2012: Team Leader, Macroscopic Quantum Coherence Team, RIKEN 2012: Group Director, Single Quantum Dynamics Research Group, RIKEN 2013–2014: Team Leader, Macroscopic Quantum Coherence Research Team, RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science 2014–: Team Leader, Superconducting Quantum Simulation Research Team, RIKEN 2015–: Professor, Tokyo University of Science 2025–: Chair Professor, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

Honors and awards 2000: Fellow, American Physical Society 2004: Nishina Memorial Prize 2007: Honorary Professor, National Chiao Tung University 2008: Simon Memorial Prize (with Yasunobu Nakamura) 2010: Fellow, Japan Society of Applied Physics 2013: Quantum Innovator Award 2014: The 11th Leo Esaki Prize (with Yasunobu Nakamura) 2018: Medal with Purple Ribbon 2021: Asahi Prize (with Yasunobu Nakamura) 2023: Japan Academy Prize (with Yasunobu Nakamura) 2024: Asian Scientist 100, Asian Scientist

References

External links RIKEN Center for Quantum Computing Tsai Laboratory at Tokyo University of Science Faculty profile at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jaw-Shen Tsai

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jaw-Shen Tsai 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 Jaw-Shen Tsai 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 Jaw-Shen Tsai 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 Jaw-Shen Tsai

In research: Jaw-Shen Tsai 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 Jaw-Shen Tsai 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: Jaw-Shen Tsai is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1952 births, 20th-century Taiwanese physicists, 21st-century Taiwanese physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jaw-Shen Tsai 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 Jaw-Shen Tsai in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Jaw-Shen Tsai 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 Jaw-Shen Tsai out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jaw-Shen Tsai in simple terms?

Why does Jaw-Shen Tsai 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 Jaw-Shen Tsai?

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 Jaw-Shen Tsai.