RIKEN Interdisciplinary Theoretical and
Mathematical Sciences Program

3rd Summer School of Mathematical Biology

From the 23rd to the 25th of August 2023, the 3rd Summer School of Mathematical Biology took place at Sokendai University (Hayama, Kanagawa Prefecture). It was a lecture camp organized primarily by our iTHEMS colleagues, Daiki Kumakura and Keiichi Morita. The topics included virus evolution, immune response, coexistence theories in biology and rapid evolution, human migration and its processes, optimization strategies in marine organism reproduction, and modeling biological metabolism. At the summer school, Tetsuo Hatsuda (iTHEMS Director) also participated as an attendee. In the end, there was a fruitful event, including an introduction to iTHEMS. The summer school will be held again next year.

2023-08-27

Deciphering the Buckwheat Genome - High-Precision Genome Sequence Illuminates the Past and Future of Buckwheat -

As the world population is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, the dependence on the three major cereals - rice, wheat, and corn - is becoming a concern. In response, interest in "orphan crops" is increasing, which have high value as food but whose research has lagged, leaving their potential untapped. Determining the genomes of orphan crops using next-generation sequencing technology is expected to promote their efficient breeding and contribute to the achievement of SDGs such as eradicating hunger and improving nutrition. An international collaborative research group (including Jeffrey Fawcett, iTHEMS) deciphered the genome sequence of buckwheat, an orphan crop cultivated in Eurasia that is used for making soba noodles in Japan, at the chromosomal level with high precision, revealing the evolution of the buckwheat genome and the origin of cultivated buckwheat. Moreover, they modified the predicted genes using methods that do not rely on genome editing technology. As a result, they successfully developed a glutinous buckwheat and a new self-pollinating buckwheat that did not previously exist. The breeding methods used in this study are expected to contribute to the improvement of a wide variety of orphan crops in which genome editing technology cannot be used. For more information, please see the Kyoto University press release article at the related links.

2023-08-23

The Discovery Evening was held on June 22 at Wako Campus

The second on-site Discovery Evening since the COVID-19 pandemic was held on June 22 at Wako Campus. 35 people attended the event, which was organized by the Research Personnel Affairs Section, RIKEN. José Said Gutiérrez-Ortega (Special Postdoctoral Researcher, iTHEMS) was one of the two speakers in the event. He gave a presentation titled "Natural history of cycads: Deciphering the Rosetta Stone of plant evolution." He explained that cycads existed from the time of the dinosaurs, but they were able to live on despite the dinosaurs going extinct. For more details, please visit the RIKENETIC website through the related link below. To access RIKENETIC, you will need to use the intranet.

2023-07-21

Control Simulation Experiments of Extreme Events - New Theories for Extreme Weather Control

A collaborative research team led by Takemasa Miyoshi (Team Leader, Data Assimilation Research Team, RIKEN Center for Computational Science (R-CCS) / Deputy Program Director, iTHEMS) has revealed the controllability to prevent the occurrence of extreme phenomena such as heavy rainfall and high temperatures through low-dimensional ideal experiments. This research achievement is expected to contribute to the development of theoretical research aimed at controlling intensifying typhoons and torrential rains, thereby mitigating the threat of extreme weather disasters. For more details, please visit the related link.

2023-06-22

iTHEMS Science Outreach Workshop 2023 was held on June 16-18, 2023

On June 16-18, we had Meeting on Outreach of RIKEN iTHEMS 2023 @Sendai & Zoom. This year the meeting was held at TOKYO ELECTRON House of Creativity 3F, Lecture Theater, Katahira Campus, Tohoku University. It was organized by RIKEN iTHEMS and Mathematical Science Center for Co-creative Society of Tohoku University and co-organised by Tohoku Forum for Creativity, Organization for Research Promotion, Tohoku University and RIKEN CPR, Prediction Science Laboratory. There were 37 people participated at TOKYO ELECTRON House of Creativity and 13 more by zoom. There were 19 talks at the venue and 2 talks by zoom. 4 talks were by members of iTHEMS explaining recent development in various fields in sciences. 8 talks were from universities or institutes on different aspects of research, where 2 were by ex-members of iTHEMS. 8 talks were given by journalists and 1 by MEXT. There was also 1 poster by a journalist, a display of photos of fingers of mathematicians, a display of monthly academic magazine. The participants consist of 9+4 members from RIKEN, 14+2 from universities and institutes, and 14+7 journalists (at venue + by zoom). The venue was so nicely organized and ideal for the meeting of 30 - 40 participants, and the lounge next to the conference room was comfortably clouded which greatly contributed the success of the meeting. We organized social gathering on the two evenings and which were also successful. We thank very much for the help of Profs. Yoshiaki Maeda and Hiroshi Suito for the warm hospitality. By the success of this meeting, we hope the continuation of Journalist in residence program and this workshop next year. Reported by Takashi Tsuboi

2023-06-21

Evidence for the utility of quantum computing before fault tolerance

Quantum computing promises to offer substantial speed-ups over its classical counterpart for certain problems. However, the implementation of fault-tolerant quantum circuits is out of reach for current processors. The recent paper by Yantao Wu (RIKEN iTHEMS) together with the IBM and UC Berkeley teams demonstrates the measurement of accurate expectation values on a noisy IBM-Q 127-qubit processor for circuit volumes at a scale beyond brute-force classical computation. In the regime of strong entanglement for the temporal dynamics of the transverse-field Ising model, the quantum computer provides correct results for which leading classical approximations such as the tensor network methods break down. This represents evidence for the utility of quantum computing in a pre-fault-tolerant era. At the same time, their results will motivate and help advance classical approximation methods as both approaches serve as valuable benchmarks of one another.

2023-06-20

Ricoh and RIKEN Develop Unique Algorithm to Visualize Changing Points of Technological Trends from Literature Data

Ricoh Co., Ltd. (President and CEO: Akira Oyama) and RIKEN iTHEMS (Aoyama Hideaki, Senior Visiting Scientist / Wataru Soma, Visiting Scientist) have jointly developed an algorithm to quantitatively measure and understand the points of change in new trends from existing technical literature data. For more details, please visit Ricoh group's website through the related link below.

2023-06-14

RIKEN NEWS: Unraveling the Puzzle of Complex Ecosystems with Mathematical Models

Ryosuke Iritani (Senior Research Scientist, iTHEMS) is interviewed on the RIKEN website. Nature is home to a multitude of ecosystems, each teeming with a rich variety of organisms. Within these intricate webs of life, diverse species interact and adapt, giving rise to complex and fascinating structures. However, comprehending the inner workings of these ecosystems poses a significant challenge, owing to their inherent complexity. At RIKEN, a team of dedicated researchers is harnessing the power of mathematical models to elucidate the intricacies of ecosystems and unlock their enigmatic nature. To shed light on this endeavor, we turn to Ryosuke Iritani, who graciously provides us with insights into their ongoing work. To read more, please visit the related link.

2023-06-12

Ryosuke Iritani gave a scientific outreach talk at Mathcafe on May 14, 2023

On Sunday 14th May, Ryosuke Iritani gave a scientific outreach talk at Mathcafe. He focused on spatial biodiversity as a chief topic and how to use mathematics to estimate, and make inferences for, the biodiversity. He explained the measurement of biodiversity from the axiomatic viewpoint, that is, he explained what properties should be satisfied by the quantity that is supposed to measure biodiversity. He then moved on to explaining an application of generating functions to biodiversity measures. He finished his talk by saying that mathematics is not only useful to science but also a life-time fun hobby.

2023-05-22

Probing Extreme Gravity with Ringing Black Holes

Naritaka Oshita (Visiting Scientist, iTHEMS) contributed to the chapter “Researches” in the membership journal of the physical society of Japan on the universality in a black hole ringing and its application to probe the near-horizon physics of black holes. Also, a picture relevant to Naritaka Oshita’s research on a black hole ringing was selected as the cover art of the journal. You can visit the following web site of the Physical Society of Japan to access the contributions.

2023-05-08

What about climate change in actuality?

Odd couples of interdisciplinary research

Khovanov homology theory - an introduction to categorification by Dr. Taketo Sano on May 13, 2022

Fundamentals Fest, mini Pre-event on Science "Exploring and Bridging: The Potential of Basic Science"

In Search of Pc pentaquark - Simulate Hadron Interactions with FUGAKU

AAS Journal Author Series: Hirotaka Ito on 2021ApJ…918...59I

Will Useless Knowledge Change the Future? - What is the Black Hole Recorder?

RIKEN 2019 (in Japanese)

COVID-19: then, now, and into the future

Exploring Quantum Spacetime

Classical simulations of quantum computers

When a Cretan says all Cretans are liars