RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS) | iTHEMS

Featured News

iTHEMS x academist online event was held on April 19, 2025

iTHEMS held an online lecture event for the general public with the help of Academist Inc., on April 19, 2025. This year’s speakers were Yuuka Kanakubo, Kan Kitamura, Leo Speidel, and Yuki Yokokura, who delivered clear and easy-to-understand lectures that even middle school students could comprehend. Each speaker also served as a commentator for other lectures and facilitated Q&A sessions based on audience questions. During the lunch break, as part of the lunch program, Director Iso, a physicist, and Prof. Fumiharu Kato, a mathematician, engaged in a discussion about the future possibilities of mathematics, moderated by Ms. Shinozaki. The event was organized and hosted by Ms. Michibayashi and Mr. Katada from Academist, who helped make the event a success. The event was attended by 414 people, and at one point there were over 250 in the audience.

2025-04-23
Masazumi Honda received "Commendation for Science and Technology: the Young Scientists' Award"

Our colleague Masazumi Honda received "Commendation for Science and Technology: the Young Scientists' Award" in recognition of his outstanding research achievements in the theoretical studies of strong-coupling dynamics in quantum field theories. Congratulations to Masazumi !

2025-04-17
RIKEN Research: When it comes to modeling, even unmeasurable data tells us something

Mathematical models for predicting how cancer tumors in mice grow over time can give distorted results if unmeasurable data is ignored, a team that includes two RIKEN researchers has shown1. This finding has important implications when applying mathematical models to medicine. A self-confessed data geek, Catherine Beauchemin of the RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS) specializes in applying the power of math to everything from viruses to supernovae. “I love trying to figure out what data are telling us,” she says. Seeking new insights into cancer mechanisms, Beauchemin’s team used mathematical models to analyze previously published data of tumor-size measurements over time for ten mice. To read more, please visit the related link.

2025-04-14
RIKEN Research: Refined test could improve Parkinson’s disease diagnosis

A team that includes a RIKEN researcher has refined a lab test for measuring protein aggregate levels in samples from patients with certain neurodegenerative diseases1. This has the potential to improve diagnosis and drug development for these diseases. Synucleinopathies are neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. They are associated with the accumulation of aggregates of misfolded alpha-synuclein proteins in the brain and spinal cord. “When a misfolded alpha-synuclein protein in a neuron encounters one of its properly folded counterparts, it causes it to become misfolded,” says Catherine Beauchemin of the RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences. “The two misfolded alpha-synuclein proteins stick together and cause other normal alpha-synuclein to misfold and aggregate.” To read more, please visit the related link.

2025-04-14
Demonstration of Quantum Information Delocalization in a Periodically Driven System

A collaborative research team, including Visiting Scientists Yuta Kikuchi and Tomoya Hayata, has demonstrated that a scrambled state—in which quantum information becomes delocalized—can be prepared using a quantum circuit that simulates a periodically driven system. This was achieved with an ion-trap quantum computer. Scrambled states possess characteristics that are expected to be beneficial for quantum information recovery and many-body quantum system computations. This achievement represents an early-stage application of quantum computing in an academic research domain where physical phenomena and quantum information intersect, and is anticipated to contribute to the promotion of quantum computing utilization in Japan. In this study, the research team confirmed that a scrambled state—previously typically discussed using random quantum circuits—can also be prepared using periodically driven quantum circuits. This was validated through a combination of practical implementation on a high-fidelity quantum computer, appropriate error mitigation techniques, and theoretical analysis. For further details, please refer to the press release available via the related link.

2025-04-14
RIKEN NEWS: Exploring Critical Magnetic Transport Phenomena with a Quantum Simulator

An interview with Yuta Sekino (Postdoctoral Researcher, iTHEMS) has been featured in Research Highlights, part of the "Close-up RIKEN 2025" series on RIKEN’s research introduction page. It has also been published in SPRING 2025 issue of RIKEN’s public relations magazine, RIKEN NEWS. Postdoctoral Researcher Yuta Sekino is theoretically investigating the behavior of "many-particle systems," which are collections of particles. He devised a new model that captures the flow of magnetism by confining individual atoms in an ultrafine lattice (optical lattice) created with lasers. Through theoretical calculations based on this model, he discovered a mysterious magnetic transport phenomenon. For more details, please see the related link.

2025-04-14
Greeting from the Director, Satoshi Iso

<strong>This April, iTHEMS entered a new phase with a renewed and expanded structure.</strong> While we continue to grow and evolve, the spirit of iTHEMS remains unchanged.

2025-04-09
RIKEN NEWS: Unraveling the Evolutionary Mechanisms of Cooperative Behavior Using Fugaku

An interview article with Yohsuke Murase (Senior Research Scientist) has been featured in Research Highlights, part of the "Close-up RIKEN 2025" series on RIKEN’s research introduction page. It has also been published in SPRING 2025 issue of RIKEN’s public relations magazine, RIKEN NEWS. We humans, often described as social animals, engage in "cooperative behavior"—working together and helping one another. Focusing on the key role played by "reputation," Dr. Yohsuke Murase and an international research team analyzed the dynamics of this information using the supercomputer Fugaku. Their findings revealed the evolutionary path of humanity, shaped by cooperative behavior. For more details, please refer to the related links.

2025-04-08
Takashi Tsuboi Appointed Honorary Research Fellow at RIKEN

The former Deputy Program Director of iTHEMS, Takashi Tsuboi, has been appointed "Honorary Research Fellow" at RIKEN by President Makoto Gonokami, effective April 1, 2025.This honor recognizes Takashi’s many years of distinguished service as Deputy Program Director of iTHEMS (FY2017–FY2024), as well as his outstanding achievements and dedicated contributions. He will continue to support iTHEMS as a Senior Visiting Scientist. Congratulations, Takashi!

2025-04-08
Yan Lyu received FY2024 RIKEN Excellent Achievement Award (RIKEN BAIHO Award 理研梅峰賞)

Our colleague Yan Lyu received the FY2024 RIKEN Excellent Achievement Award (RIKEN BAIHO Award) on March 28, 2025, in recognition of his outstanding work on “Elucidation of Genuine Tetraquarks Based on Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics.” The photo was taken on April 4, 2025, on the way to Suzuki Umetaro Hall at the Wako campus. Congratulations, Yan!

2025-04-07

Videos

RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS) is an international research center at RIKEN. It facilitates close collaborations among researchers from different disciplines in theoretical, mathematical and computational sciences. On April 1, 2025, iTHEMS transitioned from a program to a center. The ultimate goal of iTHEMS is to unravel the mystery of the Universe, matter, and life, as well as to solve key problems in modern society through interdisciplinary approaches.

Photo of Satoshi Iso

Director: Satoshi Iso

Upcoming Events

More events Event Calendar

Opportunities

Seeking Postdoctoral Researcher, Research Scientist or Senior Research Scientist (W24328)

Deadline: Open until filled

Postdoctoral Researcher, Research Scientist or Senior Research Scientist, about 6 positions. iTHEMS is seeking researchers to join RIKEN Quantum, a cross-disciplinary initiative leveraging quantum computers and simulators to drive innovation across physics, chemistry, life sciences, humanities, computational science, and information science.

More opportunities

Latest News

Upcoming Visitors

Visiting

Stuart West

Professor, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, UK

Term: April 10 (Thu) - July 7 (Mon), 2025

Visiting Place: RIKEN Wako Campus
Visiting

Ashleigh Griffin

Professor, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, UK

Term: April 10 (Thu) - July 7 (Mon), 2025

Visiting Place: RIKEN Wako Campus