RIKEN Interdisciplinary Theoretical and
Mathematical Sciences Program

Farewell message from Keita Mikami

Our colleague Keita Mikami will move on to a new career as an assistant professor at University of Hyogo as of Oct. 1, 2024. We all will miss him and wish him the best of luck in his latest endeavor. Here is a message from Keita Mikami: <i>My five and a half years at iTHEMS have been truly outstanding. The environment here has been exceptional, significantly enriching my research in many different ways. One of the key highlights has been the stimulating and insightful discussions with researchers from diverse fields. Furthermore, my experiences working on MACS, organizing math seminars, and coordinating other events such as SSP have been invaluable. My research visit to UCB was also an incredible experience. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all the researchers and assistants at iTHEMS. I am especially grateful to the director, Hatsuda-san, for his unwavering support.As I move forward, I hope to continue interacting with the iTHEMS community, albeit in a new capacity. Once again, thank you for these five wonderful years.</i>

2024-09-10

RIKEN Research: More magic in twisted layers of graphene

Magnetic fields can engineer flat bands in twisted graphene layers to create a new playground for exotic physics, RIKEN physicists have shown. The exotic properties of graphene—a single layer of carbon atoms in a hexagonal lattice—are now well established. Electrons effectively move through graphene as if they have no mass. This is an exciting prospect for creating electronic devices with functionalities beyond those of silicon. But things get even weirder when two or more layers of graphene are combined. To read more, please visit the related link.

2024-09-10

RIKEN Research: The link between fuzzy images and quantum fields

Mathematical solutions to thorny quantum problems can be found more quickly by exploiting the correspondence between the statistical methods used in deep learning and techniques for implementing quantum simulations, a team led by a RIKEN researcher has shown. One of the most successful theories in modern physics, quantum field theory is physicists’ attempt to combine three theories—classical field physics, Einstein’s special relativity and quantum mechanics—into a single mathematical model. It has been successful in solving problems in particle physics and condensed-matter physics, but these calculations are computationally intensive and require a lot of computer power. To read more, please visit the related link.

2024-09-02

Farewell message from Takeru Yokota

Our colleague Takeru Yokota will move to RIKEN Quantum Computer Center (RQC) starting from September 1, 2024, and will then be posted to a University as a faculty member as of April 1, 2025. We all will miss him and wish him the best of luck in his latest endeavor. Here is a message from Takeru Yokota: <i>I am grateful for having spent the past three and a half years in an environment where I could focus on research at iTHEMS. Engaging in discussions with researchers from various fields of mathematical sciences has been a valuable experience. I would like to express my deep appreciation to the director, Hatsuda-san, the staff, and the assistants who created such a wonderful environment, as well as to the members who engaged in these valuable discussions. I look forward to continuing my interactions with the members of iTHEMS in the future.</i>

2024-08-27

Decoding Protein Condensation - Predicting Condensation of Proteins from Amino Acid Sequences -

The research team of Kyosuke Adachi (Research Scientist, iTHEMS / Research Scientist, Nonequilibrium Physics of Living Matter RIKEN Hakubi Research Team, RIKEN BDR) and Kyogo Kawaguchi (Team Leader, Nonequilibrium Physics of Living Matter RIKEN Hakubi Research Team, RIKEN BDR / Associate Professor, Institute for Physics of Intelligence, The University of Tokyo) has proposed a theory that predicts the condensation of protein molecules and demixing of condensates based on amino acid sequences. This research is expected to contribute to elucidating the mechanisms for the formation of membraneless organelles in cells and, in the future, to develop into a theory that predicts the effect of mutations in proteins sequences on cellular functions. For more details, please refer to the related link.

2024-07-24

The annual S&T poster for everyone “One S&T poster for Every Household” produced by the MEXT celebrates its 20th anniversary with a special issue

To commemorate the 20th anniversary this year of the annual S&T poster for everyone “One S&T poster for Every Household” published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) during Science and Technology Week in April every year, a PDF version of the Science Window ‘One S&T poster for Every Household 20th Anniversary Special Issue’ was published in June. You can read all pages from the first one, ‘Periodic Table of Elements’, to the 20th, ‘Mathematics’, as well as columns on three themes: the Periodic Table of Elements, the Human Genome Map and Mathematics. The printed booklet is expected to be completed in autumn.

2024-07-24

Data and Mathematics toward Understanding the Mysteries of Hibernation

Body temperature of small mammals during hibernation drops close to the ambient temperature (&lt; 10℃). However, it doesn't stay low throughout hibernation but fluctuates multiple times between this low temperature and their normal body temperature. These significant temperature changes are a crucial part of hibernation, but their physiological significance and control mechanisms are not well understood. Using high-precision experimental data and mathematical model, an international collaborative research group (including Shingo Gibo and Gen Kurosawa, iTHEMS) has challenged to understand what occurs during these temperature changes. They found a model that simultaneously reproduces data of multiple hibernators.This collaboration includes Yoshifumi Yamaguchi (Hokkaido University), Isao Tokuda (Ritsumeikan University), Elena Gracheva (Yale University), Sviatoslav Bagriantsev (Yale University). Paper was published in npj Biological Timing and Sleep, a new journal from Nature Portfolio. For more details, please refer to the related link.

2024-07-11

Professor, how many dimensions does "space" have!? ── Asking Theoretical Physicist Yasunori Nomura about the Nature of "Space" from Subatomic to Cosmic Scale

In VOL.53 of the Japanese edition of the magazine 'WIRED,' we delve deeply into the potential of "space" × "computing." However, how should we define the very essence of "space"? A superficial exploration would undoubtedly result in a half-baked understanding. Therefore, we sought the wisdom of one of the foremost theoretical physicists of our time. We visited the office of Yasunori Nomura on the 4th floor of the Physics Department building at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). Professor Nomura, what exactly is "space"? What is space? This question is directly related to the progress of modern physics. It can be said that modern physics is a discipline that seeks to understand "space and time." So, before delving into the perspective of quantum gravity theory, which is my specialty, I would like to briefly explain the relationship between physics and space. For the continuation, please visit the WIRED website through the related link.

2024-06-26

Faculty of Science 2023 Year in Review: Catherine Beauchemin

Catherine Beauchemin(Deputy Program Director, iTHEMS) was interviewed by the Toronto Metropolitan University about her interdisciplinary research and its impact. For a physics professor, Catherine Beauchemin certainly gets involved in biology research more than you might expect. Her embrace of interdisciplinarity has taken her to many places, currently to Japan, where she is serving as Deputy Program Director of the Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS) programme at RIKEN, Japan's largest research institute. One of the best aspects? “My position allows me to host TMU trainees in Japan and expand their research and life horizons.” Please see the related links for more details.

2024-06-12

RICOH and RIKEN Develop a Proprietary Algorithm to Detect Indicators of Technology Commercialization

RICOH Company, Ltd. (President and CEO: Akira Oyama) and the RIKEN Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences Program (iTHEMS; led by Senior Visiting Scientist Hideaki Aoyama and Visiting Scientist Wataru Souma) have developed a new algorithm that applies their previously developed technology to perform multi-analysis of keywords commonly appearing in both patents and academic papers.

2024-06-05

Interview with Ryo Namba, Physicist [Part 2]

Interview with Ryo Namba, Physicist [Part 1]

Interview with Ryosuke Iritani, Mathematical Biologist [Part 1]

Theoretical Physicist Tetsuo Hatsuda Interview Vol.2: About Research and Mathematics

Theoretical Physicist Tetsuo Hatsuda Interview Vol.1: About RIKEN iTHEMS

What about climate change in actuality?

Forming black holes from stars

Singularity Theorems

Resurgence: making sense out of non-convergent series

How can we use a quantum computer to study the ground state of the hydrogen molecule?

Applications and Extensions of the Nielsen-Ninomiya Theorem in Condensed Matter Physics

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

Exploring Quantum Spacetime

Classical simulations of quantum computers

When a Cretan says all Cretans are liars

Physical and local observables in gravitational theory

Can you hear the shape of a drum?

Quantum many-body physics with cold atoms

complexity in non-unitary dynamics of photons

Physics Through the Looking Glass

A new B.O.A.T. in astrophysics

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)