Takeshi Oka

Takeshi Oka (岡 武史, Oka Takeshi, born 1932), FRS FRSC, is a Japanese-American chemist and astronomer specializing in the field of galactic astronomy, known as a pioneer of astrochemistry and the co-discoverer of interstellar trihydrogen cation (H
₃) He is now R.A. Milliken Distinguished Service Emeritus Professor, Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Chemistry; Enrico Fermi Institute; and the College of University of Chicago.

Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1932. He received his BS and PhD degree in 1955 and 1960, respectively, from the University of Tokyo.

In 1963, Oka worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Harry Kroto at Gerhard Herzberg's laboratory, National Research Council of Canada. Among them, Kroto and Herzberg have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, furthermore, the Nobel laureate Robert Curl was also Oka's colleague.

From 1960 to 1963, Oka was a Fellow at JSPS, the University of Tokyo. Afterward, he was successively worked at Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics (1963-1981), and the University of Chicago (1981-). His research group's studies specialized in the field of the quantum mechanics and dynamics of fundamental molecular ions and their behavior in astronomical objects.

In 1980, Oka discovered in his laboratory the infrared spectrum of H3. which is thought to be the starting point for gas phase chemistry in interstellar "molecular clouds." Following a lengthy search Thomas R. Geballe and Oka spectroscopically detected H
₃ in two interstellar clouds. Since then Oka and his colleagues have published numerous papers on their observations of interstellar H
₃.

Oka is currently an emeritus professor at the University of Chicago.

Oka was on the list of ChemBank's prediction for the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Awards

• 2004 - Davy Medal.
• 2004 - Norman MacLean Faculty Award.
• 2002 - E. Bright Wilson Award in Spectroscopy
• 1998 - Ellis R. Lippincott Award.
• 1997 - William F. Meggers Award.
• 1990 - Burlington Northern Achievement Award.
• 1982 - Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy.
• 1973 - Steacie Prize.

Titles

• 2004 - Wei Lun Visiting Professorship.
• 2004 - Honorary DSc from the University College London.
• 2003 - Earl W. McDaniel Lecture Georgia Institute of Technology.
• 2001 - Honoris caua, University of Waterloo.
• 2000 - George Pimentel Memorial Lecture, University of California, Berkeley.
• 1998 - Medaili Jana Marca Marci.
• 1997 - Distinguished JILA Visitor.
• 1995 - Golden Jubilee Lecture, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
• 1992 - Special Issue, Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy, Vol. 153.
• 1992 - Lecturer, International School of Physics, "Enrico Fermi".
• 1992 - Lord Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• 1989 - McDowell Lecturer, University of British Columbia.
• 1985-1986 - Chancellor's Distinguished Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley.
• 1981-1982 - Centenary Lecturer, Royal Society.

Membership in learned societies

• Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Fellow, American Physical Society
• Fellow, Optical Society of America
• Fellow, Royal Society of London
• Fellow, Royal Society of Canada

• Oka, Takeshi (1980-08-18). "Observation of the Infrared Spectrum of H₃". Physical Review Letters. American Physical Society (APS). 45 (7): 531–534. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.45.531. ISSN 0031-9007.
• Geballe, T. R.; Oka, T. (1996). "Detection of H₃ in interstellar space". Nature. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. 384 (6607): 334–335. doi:10.1038/384334a0. ISSN 0028-0836.
• Gottfried, Jennifer L.; Oka, Takeshi (2004-12-15). "Near-infrared electronic spectrum of CH₂". The Journal of Chemical Physics. AIP Publishing. 121 (23): 11527–11529. doi:10.1063/1.1835265. ISSN 0021-9606.
• Tarsitano, Christopher G.; Neese, Christopher F.; Oka, Takeshi (2004). "High-resolution spectroscopy of the 2Π_u←XΣ_g− forbidden transitions of C₂". The Journal of Chemical Physics. AIP Publishing. 121 (13): 6290–6297. doi:10.1063/1.1787493. ISSN 0021-9606.
• Hobbs, L. M.; Thorburn, J. A.; Oka, T.; Barentine, J.; Snow, T. P.; York, D. G. (2004-11-10). "Atomic and Molecular Emission Lines from the Red Rectangle". The Astrophysical Journal. IOP Publishing. 615 (2): 947–957. doi:10.1086/424733. ISSN 0004-637X.
• Oka, Takeshi; Epp, Erik (2004-09-20). "The Nonthermal Rotational Distribution of ${\displaystyle H_{3}^{+}}$". The Astrophysical Journal. IOP Publishing. 613 (1): 349–354. doi:10.1086/423030. ISSN 0004-637X.
• Oka, Takeshi (2004). "Nuclear spin selection rules in chemical reactions by angular momentum algebra". Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy. Elsevier BV. 228 (2): 635–639. doi:10.1016/j.jms.2004.08.015. ISSN 0022-2852.
• Gottfried, Jennifer L.; McCall, Benjamin J.; Oka, Takeshi (2003-06-22). "Near-infrared spectroscopy of H3+ above the barrier to linearity". The Journal of Chemical Physics. AIP Publishing. 118 (24): 10890–10899. doi:10.1063/1.1575737. ISSN 0021-9606.
• Oka, Takeshi; Thorburn, Julie A.; McCall, Benjamin J.; Friedman, Scott D.; Hobbs, Lewis M.; Sonnentrucker, Paule; Welty, Daniel E.; York, Donald G. (2003-01-10). "Observations of C₃ in Translucent Sight Lines". The Astrophysical Journal. IOP Publishing. 582 (2): 823–829. doi:10.1086/344726. ISSN 0004-637X.
• Goto, Miwa; McCall, Benjamin J.; Geballe, Thomas R.; Usuda, Tomonori; Kobayashi, Naoto; Terada, Hiroshi; Oka, Takeshi (2002-12-25). "Absorption Line Survey of H₃ toward the Galactic Center Sources I. GCS 3-2 and GC IRS3". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. Oxford University Press (OUP). 54 (6): 951–961. arXiv:astro-ph/0212159. doi:10.1093/pasj/54.6.951. ISSN 0004-6264.
• McCall, B. J.; Hinkle, K. H.; Geballe, T. R.; Moriarty‐Schieven, G. H.; Evans II, N. J.; Kawaguchi, K.; Takano, S.; Smith, V. V.; Oka, T. (2002). "Observations of H₃ in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium". The Astrophysical Journal. IOP Publishing. 567 (1): 391–406. doi:10.1086/338380. ISSN 0004-637X.
• Momose, Takamasa; Lindsay, C. Michael; Zhang, Yu; Oka, Takeshi (2001-05-21). "Sharp Spectral Lines Observed in γ-Ray Ionized Parahydrogen Crystals". Physical Review Letters. American Physical Society (APS). 86 (21): 4795–4798. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.86.4795. ISSN 0031-9007.
• White, E. T.; Tang, Jian; Oka, Takeshi (1999-04-02). "CH₅: The Infrared Spectrum Observed". Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). 284 (5411): 135–137. doi:10.1126/science.284.5411.135. ISSN 0036-8075.