Featured News
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.
Upcoming Events
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Conference In Session
RIKEN Theory Symposium
July 9 (Wed) - 10 (Thu), 2025
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Seminar Tomorrow
Birational Geometry, Iitaka Program, and Positivity of Canonical and Anticanonical Divisor
July 11 (Fri) at 14:00 - 16:00, 2025
Chi-Kang Chang (Special Postdoctoral Researcher, Division of Fundamental Mathematical Science, RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS))
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External Event
What is “Quantum”!?: RIKEN Symposium Commemorating 100 Years of Quantum Science
July 12 (Sat) at 13:00 - 17:00, 2025
Makoto Kobayashi (Director Emeritus, Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe (KMI), Nagoya University)
Yasunori Nomura (Professor/Director, Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Berkeley, USA)
Kenji Ito (Professor, Division of Contemporary Culture, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University)
Miho Hatanaka (Professor, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University)
Norio Kawakami (Deputy Director, Fundamental Quantum Science Program, TRIP Headquarters, RIKEN)
Yasushi Okada (Deputy Director, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR))
Kouichi Hagino (Professor, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University)
Shigeki Takeuchi (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University)
Yasunobu Nakamura (Director, RIKEN Center for Quantum Computing (RQC))
Makoto Gonokami (President, RIKEN) -
Seminar
Self-organization mechanism of adaptive colony size sensing in ants
July 17 (Thu) at 13:00 - 14:00, 2025
Kazuki Tsuji (Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences and Technology, University of the Ryukyus)
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Seminar
Gravity is Different - Counterexamples to the Wilsonian Paradigm of Low Effective Theory
July 18 (Fri) at 14:00 - 15:30, 2025
Hirosi Ooguri (Fred Kavli Professor and Director, Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, California Institute of Technology, USA)
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Seminar
Thermal evolution of accreting neutron stars
July 20 (Sun) at 16:00 - 17:30, 2025
Martin Javier Nava-Callejas (Postdoc, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)
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Seminar
Peaks sphericity of non-Gaussian random fields
July 22 (Tue) at 10:30 - 12:00, 2025
Michiru Uwabo (Ph.D. Student / JSPS Research Fellow DC, Faculty of Science, Ochanomizu University)
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Seminar
Detectability of post-Newtonian classical and quantum gravity via quantum clock interferometry
July 22 (Tue) at 14:00 - 15:00, 2025
Eyuri Wakakuwa (Associate Professor, Department of Mathematical Informatics, Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University)
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Seminar
Mesoscopic transport via one-dimensional chain with Localized two-body loss
July 23 (Wed) at 10:00 - 11:30, 2025
Kensuke Kakimoto (Ph.D. Student, Faculty of Science and Engineering, School of Fundamental Science and Engineering, Waseda University)
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Others
iTHEMS Now & Next 2025
July 24 (Thu) - 25 (Fri), 2025
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Workshop
The Theory of Periodic Tangles & Their Interdisciplinary Applications
July 28 (Mon) - August 1 (Fri), 2025
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Workshop
Recent Developments and Challenges in Tensor Networks: Algorithms, Applications to science, and Rigorous theories
July 28 (Mon) - August 8 (Fri), 2025
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Colloquium
Chemical and isotopic analyses of samples returned by the Hayabusa2 mission from the asteroid Ryugu
August 1 (Fri) at 14:00 - 15:30, 2025
Tetsuya Yokoyama (Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, School of Science, Institute of Science Tokyo)
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Workshop
iTHEMS Cosmology Forum #4 - Evolving Cosmos: new physical insights from new spectroscopic data
August 4 (Mon) - 5 (Tue), 2025
Seshadri Nadathur (Associate Professor, University of Portsmouth, UK)
Andrei Cuceu (NASA Einstein Fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), USA)
Gerrit Farren (Postdoc, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), USA)
Antonio De Felice (Associate Professor, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University)
Linda Blot (Project Assistant Professor, Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU), The University of Tokyo)
Wen Yin (Associate Professor, Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University) -
Workshop
iTHEMS-NCTS Workshop
August 18 (Mon) - 21 (Thu), 2025
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Seminar
Computer Algebra with Deep Learning
September 5 (Fri) at 15:00 - 17:00, 2025
Yuki Ishihara (Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, College and Science Technology, Nihon University)
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Conference
XIIIth International Symposium on Nuclear Symmetry Energy (NuSym25)
September 8 (Mon) - 13 (Sat), 2025
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Lecture
8th QGG Intensive Lecture: Quantum reference frames and their applications in high-energy physics
September 24 (Wed) - 26 (Fri), 2025
Philipp Höhn (Assistant Professor, Qubits and Spacetime Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST))
Opportunities
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Seeking a few Postdoctoral Researchers (25-695)
Deadline: Open until filled
Postdoctoral Researcher a few positions. iTHEMS is seeking Postdoctoral Researchers to join the Mathematical Genomics RIKEN ECL Research Unit, where we aim to advance research that uncovers the evolution and diversity of life through genomic data.
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[Female only] Seeking a few Senior Research Scientists, Research Scientists, Postdoctoral Researchers, or Research Associates (25-508)
Deadline: Open until filled
iTHEMS is seeking female candidates for a few positions as Senior Research Scientist, Research Scientist, Postdoctoral Researcher, or Research Associate.
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Seeking a few Research Scientists or Postdoctoral Researchers (W25015)
Deadline: Open until filled
iTHEMS is seeking Research Scientists or Postdoctoral Researchers to join the Mathematical Social Science Team and advance mathematical research aimed at deepening our understanding of collective social phenomena and contributing to the realization of a stable and sustainable society.
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Seeking a Team Director (W25020)
Deadline: July 11, 2025
Team Director: 1position. iTHEMS is seeking a Team Director to lead the 'AI for Science' initiative, which aims to accelerate research in the natural and social sciences through cutting-edge AI and mathematical science, in collaboration with researchers inside and outside iTHEMS.
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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.
Latest News
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2025-07-09
Person of the WeekSelf-introduction: Zhe Wang
I received my doctoral degree from Tsinghua University in 2023. After that, I spent two years at Kyoto University as a postdoctoral researcher. In 2025, I joined iTHEMS. My main research interest lies in exploring various aspects of mathematical physics using tools from integrable systems. In particular, I apply techniques from (infinite-dimensional) Hamiltonian integrable systems to study Gromov-Witten type theories, mirror symmetry, and related topics. A typical problem in this area involves constructing integrable systems that govern the partition functions of specific theories—such as cohomological field theory, equivariant quantum cohomology, quantum K-theory, or symplectic field theory—and analyzing their structure through the integrable systems. More recently, I've become increasingly interested in the connections between integrable hierarchies and quantum algebras, such as vertex algebras and W-algebras. While the classical relationships between these fields have been well studied, understanding their quantum counterparts remains a rich and challenging direction. I believe that further progress in this area will deepen our overall understanding of integrable systems, which play a central role in mathematical physics. If you’re interested in my work or would like to discuss related topics, I’d be very happy to hear from you. Please feel free to reach out!
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2025-07-08
Research NewsRIKEN NEWS: The Appeal of the ECL Program in Nurturing Early-Career Researchers
An interview with Leo Speidel (RIKEN ECL Research Unit Leader, Mathematical Genomics RIKEN ECL Research Unit) has been featured in the Topics section, as part of the Close-up RIKEN 2025 series on RIKEN’s research introduction page. A video interview is also available alongside the article. The RIKEN Early Career Leaders (ECL) Program was launched in 2023 to provide more substantial support for early-career researchers. Building on and expanding the previous RIKEN Hakubi Program, the ECL Program enables researchers to pursue agile and flexible research. In addition to appointing Team Leaders (equivalent to department heads or young professors at universities), the program has introduced the position of Unit Leader (equivalent to section heads or associate professors/lecturers at universities) to support outstanding young researchers with limited experience. These Unit Leaders are provided with a highly mobile and independent research environment at their host research centers. We spoke with Dr. Leo Speidel, the RIKEN ECL Research Unit Leader of the Mathematical Genomics RIKEN ECL Research Unit, Mathematical Science Core Division, at the Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences Program (iTHEMS), who is part of the program's first cohort. He is working to uncover human evolution and history through the study of DNA mutations, and he shared with us the appeal of the ECL Program. For more information, please see the related links below.
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2025-07-03
Press ReleaseUsing viral load tests to help predict mpox severity when skin lesions first appear
A research group led by Shingo Iwami (Visiting Scientist, iTHEMS) has revealed through an international collaborative study that there is significant individual variation in the progression of skin lesions among patients infected with mpox (Clade Ia). The study also suggests that the blood viral load at the time of onset may serve as a useful indicator for predicting the progression of these symptoms. For more details, please refer to the related links.
Upcoming Visitors
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Visiting
Chang Po-Yao
Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, National Tsing Hua University, TaiwanTerm: June 30 (Mon) - August 24 (Sun), 2025Visiting Place: Main Research Building -
Nancy Bird
Research Fellow, University College London, UKTerm: July 27 (Sun) - August 1 (Fri), 2025Visiting Place: Main Research Building -
Alba Nieto Heredia
Ph.D. Student, L'Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, FranceTerm: July 28 (Mon) - August 9 (Sat), 2025Visiting Place: RIKEN Wako Campus