Takato Mori wins prestigious Inoue thesis award
Perimeter postdoctoral researcher Takato Mori has been awarded the 40th annual Inoue Research Award for Young Scientists.
The interdisciplinary award, from the Inoue Foundation for Science in Japan, is granted to scientists whose doctoral theses represent a significant, novel contribution to their field. It recognizes “outstanding researchers under the age of 37 who have earned a doctoral degree… in a field such as science, medicine, pharmacy, engineering, or agriculture.”
Mori won the award for his thesis titled “Entanglement structure in quantum many-body systems, field theories, and holography,” which he completed at the Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, under the supervision of Satoshi Iso.
“I’m really glad to receive this award,” says Mori. “Many excellent predecessors have received this award, which targets a wide range of disciplines in the natural sciences, including chemistry, medicine, engineering, and so on. Among all these fields, the number of theses in theoretical physics winning this award is very limited. I’m really happy that my thesis and my contributions in such a fundamental science were recognized.”
Mori’s thesis takes an entanglement-based approach to resolving some intractable problems in quantum research. For example, he applied a formula for entanglement entropy (a measure of quantifying quantum correlation) to the AdS/CFT correspondence, which is one promising approach to quantum gravity known more generally as holography. AdS/CFT is limited to a specific toy model of the universe, but many researchers are hoping to generalize it to the real universe.
Mori’s entanglement-entropy-centric approach is not only valuable in holography research. It’s also applicable to the study of condensed matter physics, the science of phase transitions, and quantum field theories more broadly.
One key insight that underpins Mori’s work is the attempt to establish a systematic way of studying entanglement, regardless of the context. This enables it to be useful across various types of quantum systems.
Since arriving at Perimeter Institute in 2023, Mori’s entanglement-centric research program has continued.
“My primary focus is entanglement and quantum many-body systems, and also holographic systems. Roughly speaking, I’ve been interested in quantum correlations in large quantum systems, both during my PhD and currently at Perimeter,” he says.
Last year, Mori teamed up with Perimeter Faculty member Beni Yoshida to examine another quantum gravity model known as “braneworld holography.” This formulation of holography offers a unique path towards generalizing the theory.
Unfortunately, it also gives rise to inconsistencies in causality – a breakdown in the relationship between cause and effect that is incompatible with the real universe. Mori and Yoshida have proposed an entanglement-centric approach toward resolving some of these inconsistencies.
Mori accepted the Inoue award at a ceremony on February 2.
About PI
Perimeter Institute is the world’s largest research hub devoted to theoretical physics. The independent Institute was founded in 1999 to foster breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of our universe, from the smallest particles to the entire cosmos. Research at Perimeter is motivated by the understanding that fundamental science advances human knowledge and catalyzes innovation, and that today’s theoretical physics is tomorrow’s technology. Located in the Region of Waterloo, the not-for-profit Institute is a unique public-private endeavour, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada, that enables cutting-edge research, trains the next generation of scientific pioneers, and shares the power of physics through award-winning educational outreach and public engagement.
