Volume 336

iTHEMS Weekly News Letter

Press Release

Ancient DNA unlocks new understanding of migrations in the first millennium AD thumbnail
Leo Speidel thumbnail

Ancient DNA unlocks new understanding of migrations in the first millennium AD

2025-01-02

A new study published in Nature reveals waves of human migration across Europe during the first millennium AD using a more precise method of analysing ancestry with ancient DNA. Led by Leo Speidel, ECL Unit Leader at RIKEN iTHEMS, formally a Sir Henry Wellcome postdoctoral researcher at the Francis Crick Institute and UCL, alongside Pontus Skoglund at the Francis Crick Institute, this study reports a new data analysis method called Twigstats. Applied to over 1500 ancient genomes, the new approach reveals previously unknown details of migrations in Europe during the first millennium AD (year 1 to 1000), encompassing the Iron Age, the fall of the Roman Empire, the early medieval ‘Migration Period’ and the Viking Age. The new approach can be applied to populations across the world and may enable researcher to reveal more missing pieces of the puzzle in future.

Please refer to the press release by the Francis Crick Institute for further details.

Reference

  1. L. Speidel, et al., High-resolution genomic history of early medieval Europe, Nature (2025), doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08275-2

Upcoming Events

Seminar

ABBL-iTHEMS Joint Astro Seminar

Search for BSM particles from high energy supernova neutrinos

January 10 (Fri) at 14:00 - 15:15, 2025

Kensuke Akita (JSPS Research Fellow, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo)

Light hypothetical particles with masses up to O(100) MeV can be produced in the core of supernovae. Their subsequent decays to neutrinos can produce a flux component with higher energies than the standard flux. We study the impact of heavy neutral leptons, Z′ bosons, in particular U(1)Lμ−Lτ and U(1)B−L gauge bosons, and majorons coupled to neutrinos flavor-dependently. We obtain new strong limits on these particles from no events of high-energy SN 1987A neutrinos and their future sensitivities from observations of galactic supernova neutrinos.

Venue: Hybrid Format (3F #359 and Zoom), Seminar Room #359, 3F Main Research Building, RIKEN

Event Official Language: English

Others

Visit by ASCENT-6E high school students

January 13 (Mon) at 10:40 - 16:00, 2025

PROGRAMME
Visit of students enrolled in the ASCENT Program at Chiba University
Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences Program (iTHEMS):
RIKEN Wako Campus (Wako City, Saitama)
Event date: Monday, January 13th, 2025

ASCENT-6E Program:
iTHEMS members:

Schedule
10:30-10:40 (10 min):
Arriving procedure

10:40-11:00 (20 min) at meeting room on the 4th floor, Main Research Building
Introduction of students (to hear their names and scientific fields of interest). We will provide colour-coded badges to write their names and the colour would represent their field of interest (e.g., blue for biology, green for math, red for physics).

11:00-11:10 (10 min) Bathroom break

11:10-12:00 (50 min) at meeting room on the 4th floor, Main Research Building
First set of talks by iTHEMS members (10 min each)
Tetsuo Hatsuda (Physics, mathematics)
Catherine Beauchemin (Physics, biology)
Tsukasa Tada (Physics, mathematics)
Gen Kurosawa (Biology)
Misako Tatsuuma (Physics)

12:00-12:50 (50 min) at Common Space in the 4th floor of Main Research Building (tentative)
Discussion Lunch with students

12:50-13:40 (50 min) at meeting room on the 4th floor, Main Research Building
Second set of talks by iTHEMS members (10 min each)
Akihisa Yamamoto (Physics, biology)
Ryo Namba (Physics)
Christy Kelly (Mathematics, physics)
Rumi Hasegawa (Physics)
Jose Gutierrez (Biology)

13:40-13:50 (10 min) at meeting room on the 4th floor, Main Research Building
Brief overview of iTHEMS and RIKEN programmes (T.Hatsuda, C.Beauchemin, or T. Tada)
(e.g., JRA, IPA, SPDR, RS/SRS)

13:50-14:00 (10 min) Bathroom break

14:00-14:15 (15 min) at meeting room on the 4th floor, Main Research Building (tentative)
Short statements by Prof. Jun Nomura and ASCENT program coordinators Qian Wang and Hina Morishige

14:15-16:00 (105 min) at Common Space in the 4th floor of Main Research Building (tentative)
Informal discussions among ASCENT program students and iTHEMS members over some snacks and coffee. iTHEMS members will spread at different areas in the common space of 3rd floor and will display posters or conduct activities that can facilitate discussion. If posters are used, they may be the ones used in the Now & Next or new ones.

Venue: #435-437, 4F, Main Research Building, RIKEN

Event Official Language: English

Seminar

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iTHEMS Biology Seminar

Principles of the evolution of human social structures: kinship and gift-giving

January 16 (Thu) at 16:00 - 17:15, 2025

Kenji Itao (Special Postdoctoral Researcher, Computational Group Dynamics Collaboration Unit, RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS))

Anthropologists have long noted structural similarities among geographically distant societies. To investigate the origins of these patterns, I develop simple models of human interactions based on field observations, simulating the emergence of social structures. This talk focuses on two key topics. The first examines the evolution of kinship structures in clan societies [1, 2, 3]. By modeling kin and in-law cooperation alongside mating competition, I show how cultural groups with specific marriage rules spontaneously emerge. The second explores the transition of social organizations through competitive gift-giving [4, 5]. By modeling how gifts deliver material goods to recipients and confer social reputation upon donors, I demonstrate transitions across four phases—band, tribe, chiefdom, and kingdom—each characterized by distinct social networks and distributions of wealth and reputation. In both cases, I highlight the alignment between theoretical predictions and empirical observations, offering quantitative criteria and empirically measurable explanatory parameters for classifying social structures.

References

  1. K. Itao and K. Kaneko, Evolution of kinship structures driven by marriage tie and competition, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 117, 5, pp. 2378-2384 (2020), doi: 10.1073/pnas.1917716117
  2. K. Itao and K. Kaneko, Emergence of kinship structures and descent systems: multi-level evolutionary simulation and empirical data analysis, Proc. Biol. Sci., ,289, 1969, pp. 20212641 (2022), doi: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2641
  3. K. Itao and K. Kaneko, Formation of human kinship structures depending on population size and cultural mutation rate, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA,, 121(33), e2405653121 (2024), doi: 10.1073/pnas.2405653121
  4. K. Itao and K. Kaneko, Transition of social organisations driven by gift relationships, Humanit. Soc. Sci. Commun. 10, 188 (2023), doi: 10.1057/s41599-023-01688-w
  5. K. Itao and K. Kaneko, Emergence of economic and social disparities through competitive gift-giving, PLOS Complex Syst., 1(1), e0000001 (2024), doi: 10.1371/journal.pcsy.0000001

Venue: via Zoom / Hybrid Format (3F #359 and Zoom), Main Research Building, RIKEN

Event Official Language: English

Seminar

iTHEMS Math Seminar

Probabilistic approach to discrete integrable systems

January 17 (Fri) at 15:30 - 17:30, 2025

Makiko Sasada (Professor, Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Tokyo)

The KdV equation and the Toda lattice are two central and widely studied examples of classical integrable systems, and many of their variations have been introduced to the present. In particular, the box-ball system (BBS) is a basic example of a discrete integrable system, which has been revealed to be an ultra-discrete version of the KdV equation and the Toda lattice. The BBS has been studied from various viewpoints such as tropical geometry, combinatorics, and cellular-automaton. As a new perspective, research on probabilistic approaches to this system has been rapidly expanding in recent years, including the application of the Pitman transform, analysis of invariant measures and its generalized hydrodynamics. More recently, we find that the application of the Pitman transform and the study of invariant measures of i.i.d.-type also work in the same manner for the discrete KdV equation and the discrete Toda lattice. Further research has begun on the relationship between the Yang-baxter maps and the existence of i.i.d.-type invariant measures for the discrete integrable systems. In this talk, I will introduce these new research topics that have been spreading over the past several years from the basics. This talk is based on several joint works with David Croydon, Tsuyoshi Kato, Satoshi Tsujimoto, Ryosuke Uozumi, Matteo Mucciconi, Tomohiro Sasamoto, Hayate Suda and Stefano Olla.

Venue: Seminar Room #359, 3F Main Research Building, RIKEN

Event Official Language: English

Seminar

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Quantum Computation SG Seminar

Quantum Error Mitigation

January 28 (Tue) - 29 (Wed), 2025

Suguru Endo (Ph.D. Researcher, Research Center for Theoretical Quantum Information, NTT Computer and Data Science Laboratories)

Note for registration [2024-12:24]:
We are sorry that the number of registration has reached the capacity of the lecture room. Thank you for your understanding.

Note for participants [2024-12:18]:
For participants, please register from the above form. We may limit the number of participants due to the capacity of the lecture room.
For participants in RIKEN who have already answered a questionnaire on this lecture, you do not have to register.

Program:
Day 1 (Jan. 28th)
10:30-12:00 Lecture 1
12:00-13:30 Lunch time
13:30-15:00 Lecture 2
15:00-15:30 Coffee break
15:30-17:00 Lecture 3

Day 2 (Jan. 29th)
10:30-12:00 Lecture 4
12:00-13:30 Lunch time
13:30-15:00 Lecture 5
15:00-15:30 Coffee break
15:30-17:00 Lecture 6

Abstract:
Quantum Error Mitigation (QEM) offers a practical approach to reducing errors in noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices without requiring the encoding of qubits. In this seminar, I will begin by discussing the fundamentals of noise modeling in quantum systems, followed by an overview of QEM techniques, including extrapolation, probabilistic error cancellation (PEC), virtual distillation, quantum subspace expansion, and Clifford data regression. Next, I will present advanced QEM methods, such as the stochastic PEC approach, which mitigates the effects of Lindblad terms in Lindblad master equations and the generalized quantum subspace expansion, which is a unified framework of QEM. I will also explore recent research on the information-theoretic analysis of QEM, shedding light on its fundamental limits and connections to non-Markovian dynamics. Furthermore, I will discuss studies combining QEM with quantum error correction to enhance the reliability of computations in the early fault-tolerant quantum computing era. Lastly, I will highlight the relevance of hybrid tensor networks, particularly their connections to quantum subspace expansion techniques.

Venue: #435-437, 4F, Main Research Building, RIKEN

Register: Event registration form

Event Official Language: English

Seminar

ABBL-iTHEMS Joint Astro Seminar

Fireworks in the cosmos: The Hidden Power of Nuclear Reactions

February 7 (Fri) at 14:00 - 15:15, 2025

Irin Sultana (Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Physics, Central Michigan University, USA)

Neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries, accreting hydrogen- or helium-rich material from a companion star, frequently exhibit thermonuclear runaways on their surfaces known as Type-I X-ray bursts (XRBs). These bursts are powered by nuclear processes, such as the triple-$\alpha$ process, the $\alpha p$ process, and the rapid proton capture process, which play a critical role in model-observation comparisons. In this study, we investigate the impact of nuclear reaction uncertainties on XRBs using the ONEZONE model (Cyburt et al., 2016), considering different accreted compositions and accretion rates for the binary systems that are within the range of observed burst sources. The study is carried out in two stages. First, we determine the burst ignition conditions by simulating the settling of the accreted material with a full reaction network and a semi-analytical model. Second, we perform a sensitivity analysis by varying proton- and alpha-induced reaction rates in JINA REACLIBV2.2 within their estimated uncertainties. We explore the influence of these reactions on the XRBs light curve and the final abundances. The findings highlight key nuclear reactions that significantly affect XRB observables and the final abundances produced, offering guidance for future experimental efforts to improve our understanding of the uncertainties in the reaction rates involved in XRBs.

Venue: Hybrid Format (3F #359 and Zoom), Seminar Room #359, 3F Main Research Building, RIKEN

Event Official Language: English

Workshop

Pebbles in Planet Formation

February 10 (Mon) - 13 (Thu), 2025

Research on planet formation involves various approaches, including explorations of small solar system bodies, observations of protoplanetary disks, dust experiments, simulations, and theoretical studies. One of the primary objectives in this field is to develop a comprehensive theory that explains how kilometer-sized planetesimals form from micrometer-sized dust grains, drawing upon findings from these diverse research methods.

This workshop will focus on the concept of pebbles, which play a crucial role in the planet formation process. Pebbles — typically defined as solids ranging from millimeter to centimeter in size — are intermediate building blocks in planet formation, though their definition varies depending on the context. Assuming pebbles has led to theoretical advances in mechanisms such as streaming instability and pebble accretion, which promote the formation and growth of planetesimals. Additionally, pebbles have been linked to barriers against dust growth, such as the bouncing barrier. Furthermore, observations of protoplanetary disks have revealed the size distribution and porosity of solids, while the strength and thermal conductivity of comets obtained by the Rosetta mission suggest the accumulation of pebbles due to disk instabilities. However, inconsistencies have been pointed out between pebble formation and theories of dust growth.

This workshop aims to revisit and refine our understanding of solid materials implicated in planet formation, particularly in light of findings from solar system explorations and protoplanetary disk observations. We aim to reevaluate the definition and role of pebbles in the broader context of planet formation, with a special focus on the current challenges and open questions in the field. The workshop will include discussions of experiments and simulations of dust growth and collisions, and planetesimal formation mechanisms such as streaming instability. The workshop features keynote talks from the perspectives of explorations, observations, experiments, simulations, and theories, and we also call for presentations on related topics.

Venue: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (Mitaka Campus) / via Zoom

Register: Event registration form

Event Official Language: English

Workshop

iTHEMS Cosmology Forum 3 - (P)reheating the primordial Universe

March 4 (Tue) at 9:30 - 17:35, 2025

Seishi Enomoto (Postdoctoral Researcher, College of Engineering Science, Yokohama National University)
John T. Giblin (Professor, Department of Physics, Kenyon College, USA)
Kyohei Mukaida (Assistant Professor, Theory Center, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK))

iTHEMS Cosmology Forum Workshop is a series of short workshops, each focusing on an emerging topics in cosmology. The target audience is cosmologists, high-energy physicists and astronomers interested in learning about the subject, not just those who have already worked on the topic. The goal of the workshop is to provide working knowledge of the topic and leave dedicated time for discussions to encourage mutual interactions among participants.

The third workshop is devoted to the 'reheating' phase of the early Universe. Reheating bridges the gap between the (almost) empty universe at the end of cosmic inflation and the thermal state of particles, required for Big-Bang nucleosynthesis, and the events of the hot Big-Bang model as a whole, to unfold. It is expected to proceed in different stages starting with a violent parametric resonant creation of particles, dubbed preheating, followed by a redistribution of energy leading to a thermal state. This phase potentially hosts rich phenomenology such as the formation of topoligical defects e.g. solitons, generation of gravitiational wave, and so on. Yet, the very non-linear nature of reheating makes it notoriously hard to describe analytically, and even numerical simulations struggle to follow the whole sequence of events in a given model. Reheating studies have thus yet to reach the degree of compherensiveness and universality that the understanding of cosmic inflation has achieved.

This forum will consist of two events. The first, on March 4th, will be in conference format comprising scientific talks on research trends in (P)Reheating. The second, on March 5th, will be a tutorial on numerical aspects of reheating (both theory and hands-on with code) hosted by Tom Giblin of Kenyon College.

The workshop will be in English.

The workshops are organised by the iTHEMS Cosmology Forum working group, which is the successor of the Dark Matter Working Group at RIKEN iTHEMS.

Important dates:
Feb. 25th - Registration deadline
March 4th - Workshop Day
March 5th - Tutorial Day

Invited Speakers:
John T. Giblin - Kenyon College
Kyohei Mukaida - KEK
Seishi Enomoto - Yokohama National University

Organisers:
Kohei Hayashi, Nagisa Hiroshima, Derek Inman, Amaury Micheli, Ryo Namba

Venue: #435-437, 4F, Main Research Building, RIKEN

Register: Event registration form

Event Official Language: English

Workshop

Integrated Innovation Building (IIB) venue photo

Third Workshop on Density Functional Theory: Fundamentals, Developments, and Applications (DFT2025)

March 25 (Tue) - 27 (Thu), 2025

The density functional theory (DFT) is one of the powerful methods to solve quantum many-body problems, which, in principle, gives the exact energy and density of the ground state. The accuracy of DFT is, in practice, determined by the accuracy of an energy density functional (EDF) since the exact EDF is still unknown. Currently, DFT has been used in many communities, including nuclear physics, quantum chemistry, and condensed matter physics, while the fundamental study of DFT, such as the first principle derivations of an accurate EDF and methods to calculate many observables from obtained densities and excited states, is still ongoing. However, there has been little opportunity to have interdisciplinary communication.

On December 2022, we had the first workshop on this series (DFT2022) at Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University, and several interdisciplinary discussions and collaborations were started. On February 2024, we had the second workshop on this series (DFT2024) at RIKEN Kobe Campus, and more stimulated discussion occured. To keep and extend collaborations, we organize the third workshop. Since the third workshop, we extend the scope of the workshop to the development and application of DFT as well. In this workshop, the current status and issues of each discipline will be shared towards solving these problems by meeting together among researchers in mathematics, nuclear physics, quantum chemistry, and condensed matter physics.

This workshop mainly comprises lectures/seminars on cutting-edge topics and discussion, while sessions composed of contributed talks are also planned.

Venue: 8F, Integrated Innovation Building (IIB), Kobe Campus, RIKEN / via Zoom

Event Official Language: English

Paper of the Week

Week 1, January 2025

2025-01-02

Title: QCD sum rule approach to Okamoto-Nolen-Schiffer anomaly
Author: Hiroyuki Sagawa, Tomoya Naito, Xavier Roca-Maza, Tetsuo Hatsuda
arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/2412.19851v1

Title: Jackiw-Teitelboim Gravity and Lorentzian Quantum Cosmology
Author: Masazumi Honda, Hiroki Matsui, Kota Numajiri, Kazumasa Okabayashi
arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/2412.20398v1

Title: Phase and equation of state of finite density QC$_2$D at lower temperature
Author: Etsuko Itou, Kei Iida, Kotaro Murakami, Daiki Suenaga
arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/2412.18825v1

Title: Violation of Parity and Flavor Symmetries in a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio Model
Author: Yukimi Goto, Tohru Koma
arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/2412.19244v1

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